Mugham is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan. Mugham draws on Iranian-Arabic-Turkish Maqam. It is a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. "Mugham" is a modal system. Unlike Western modes, "mugham" modes are associated not only with scales but with an orally transmitted collection of melodies and melodic fragments that performers use in the course of improvisation. "Mugham" is a compound composition of many parts. The choice of a particular mugham and a style of performance fits a specific event. The dramatic unfolding in performance is typically associated with increasing intensity and rising pitches, and a form of poetic-musical communication between performers and initiated listeners.

Three major schools of mugham performance existed from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - the regions of Garabagh (Karabakh), Shirvan, and Baku. The town of Shusha (Garabagh) was particularly renowned for this art. The short selection of Azerbaijani mugham played in balaban, national wind instrument was included on the Voyager Golden Record, attached to the Voyager spacecraft as representing world music, included among many cultural achievements of humanity.

In 2003, UNESCO recognized mugham as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Karabakh Foundation has sponsored numerous musical events. Check YouTube to experience these events. Videos of the "Rhythms of Azerbaijan" concert of March 24, 2011, and the "TURKSOY: Music and Dance of the Turkish World" concert of March 28, 2011, both organized primarily by the Karabakh Foundation, are available for purchase. Latest Update: On April 25, 2012, the Karabakh Foundation will proudly co-produce another TURKSOY production. TURKSOY Presents: Symphony of Voices from Turkic Lands