ARTISTS | JIVAN GASPARYAN JUNIOR

JIVAN GASPARYAN JUNIOR
(duduk player)
Jivan Gasparyan Jr. (born October 23, 1982 in Yerevan, Armenia) has always been inspired by traditional Armenian folk melodies performed by his grandfather. Later he studied music, piano, vocals and musical grammar at Yerevan Vocal School, where he excelled as a student.
At the same time he was also learning the art of playing the duduk from his grandfather. At his early teens he moved to Los Angeles, California and found that his interests lay in music only. He worked hard to improve his performance, taking the most valuable lessons from his grandfather.
After making sure that Jivan Jr. was ready for stage appearances, the elder Gasparyan changed his trio into a quartet, including Jivan Jr. in it. A few years later, Jivan Jr. accompanied his grandfather at concerts at the Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl, in Moscow at the Kremlin Concert Hall, in London, Poland, Italy, Russia, and many other cities around the world, having great success everywhere.
In 2009 Jivan Gasparyan Jr. took part in WOMAD festival in Abu Dhabi, organized by Peter Gabriel. He performed a duet of a melody from the film "The Gladiator'',” together with his prominent grandfather, as the opening performance of the concert for Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday celebration, which took place in Hide Park, London, on June 27, 2008.
Jivan Gasparyan Jr. took part in the celebration of his grandfather's 80th birthday anniversary on November 11, 2008 in Yerevan. He performed with a trio of duduks, and accompanied guest musicians for three days of concerts. He has performed with musicians and bands such as Zucchero, Andreas Vollenweider, Boris Grebenshikov, the Alan Parsons Project, Planet X, Michael Brook and various other renowned artists from around the world.
Currently Jivan Jr. performs with the band ''Visa'', combining elements of traditional music in a modern setting.''Visa''”is a group of nine musicians from Los Angeles. Their combined sound is original, unique, passionate, exotic, and spiritual, with elements of rock, jazz, and pop, wrapped in a Mediterranean/ Armenian/Middle Eastern fusion. Jivan Gasparyan Jr. is also doing recordings with his grandfather for new projects. His major goal is to follow his grandfather's footsteps, achieve recognition in the performance of duduk, and continue this traditional art in his own unique way.