Duduk fell silent forever: Jivan Gasparyan passed away

ArmInfo. egend of Armenia, world famous and unsurpassed duduk master,  custodian of the musical heritage of the Armenian people Jivan Gasparyan, passed away at the  age of 93. Grandson of the musician Jivan Gasparyan Jr. announced the  sad news on his Facebook page.

" I am writing with great sorrow about my big loss. Today the world  has suffered an unimaginable loss - not only an icon, but also a  beautiful soul. Rest In Peace," he wrote.

To recall, Jivan Gasparyan was born in 1928 in a small Armenian  village called Solak, not far from the town of Hrazdan. Having no  musicians in his family, he began to play the duduk on his own at the  age of 6.  In 1948 he became a member of the national song and dance  ensemble. In the same year, he made his first professional  performance with the Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra as a soloist. In  1946, Gasparyan, as part of an amateur ensemble, performed in Moscow  at a show of masters of arts from the republics of the USSR. In 1956,  Jivan Gasparyan received his first ever prize at the duduk  competition. In 1957 Gasparyan, together with the "Birch" ensemble,  went on a foreign tour to America for the first time.

He worked with such famous musicians as Lionel Ricci, Serge Tankian,  Peter Gabriel, Hans Zimmer, Brian May, Boris Grebenshchikov, Irina  Allegrova, Vladimir Presnyakov.  The musician was awarded four UNESCO  medals and the Womex (World Music Expo) prize "For services to the  art of music".  During his life, Jivan Gasparyan gave more than 20  thousand concerts.  Music performed by Gasparyan sounds in more than  40 films.  The first Hollywood movie to feature a duduk soundtrack -  Martin Scorsese (1988). After him  there were "Ararat"; , , , , , , , , , , , "Onegin", "Game of Thrones" and others.  The composition for "Gladiator" was awarded with the "Golden Globe"  award.  Jivan Gasparyan was a professor at the Yerevan Conservatory  and has trained and trained many professional duduk performers.