For the first time we have a chance to meet a guest from Armenia — Arsen Petrosyan who has recently emerged as one of his generation's main proponents of Armenian duduk. In February, the young but already experienced musician will visit Liepaja and Rezekne together with The Arsen Petrosyan Quartet.
04.02. GORS, The Embassy of Latgale, Rezekne, Latvia
06.02. The concert hall „Great Amber” , Liepaja, Latvia
This concert/tour is around his new album 'Hokin Janapar'. 'Hokin Janapar' means 'My Soul's Journey' in Armenian. It is said that to emit a sound from the Armenian duduk, one needs to blow what feels like their soul into the instrument. ‘Hokin Janapar’ would undoubtedly support this belief, as Arsen Petrosyan shares his poise, passion, and unmistakable talent with the world once more.
"The music which I have collected and recorded all came from my musical journey, where I always feel the presence of the spirit. This is what I want to make the listeners feel when they listen to my album," says Arsen Petrosyan.
The Arsen Petrosyan Quartet plays Armenian Classical Traditional and Sacred Music, which spans different eras and genres within Armenia's historical timeline. The instruments are Duduk, Santur, Qanun, Percussion. The themes included in the new album is Arsen Petrosyan's nostalgic exploration into music that has stirred his soul, which also reflects the continued odyssey of the Armenian nation.
The pieces on this album aren't just songs, rather, they are a document of a nation and culture that refuses to die. Program includes music from Grigor Narekatsi (10th century), Simeon Yerevantsi (18th century), Sayat-Nova (18th century), as well as pieces from the great armenian composers of the .20th century — Komitas and Aram Khachaturian.
Arsen Petrosyan born and raised in Charentsavan, Armenia, where he currently still resides, Petrosyan’s more immediate familial roots are from the ethnic Armenian enclave of Javakhk (in the Republic of Georgia) while his ancestral homeland is in Erzurum (now it modern day Turkey). Following in the footsteps of established duduk masters such as Djivan Gasparian and his mentor Gevorg Dabaghyan, Petrosyan has managed to carve out his own pathway through diverse collaborations with Steve Hackett (Genesis), Emirati composer Ihab Darwish, and oudist Omar Bashir among others.
He received his Masters Degree in Music (Duduk concentration) at the Komitas Conservatory of Yerevan in 2016. In addition to his active recording and touring schedule, Arsen has conducted master classes and lectures on the Armenian duduk for organizations such as the World Music Institute (WMI) in New York City and the Apollo Chamber Players (Houston, Texas). Notable media appearances include those on Medici.tv, Mezzo TV, BR-KLASSIK, as well as BBC Persia among others. Between both of his ensembles, the A.G.A Trio and the Arsen Petrosyan Quartet, he has performed throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus. As a solo artist, Petrosyan has also toured extensively in North America as well as the territories noted above.
