International Music&Film Festival (IMFF)
Riga - Jurmala
July 11-17, 2011
Jivan Gasparyan and Jivan Gasparyan Jr.
with orchestra (Armenia)
at Dzintari concert hall
July 15, 7.30pm
Jivan Gasparyan at the Music&Film Festival - the heart, music, duduk and and orchestra.
On July 15, the great Armenian duduk virtuoso Jivan Gasparyan will perform accompanied by an orchestra as part of the International Music&Film Festival, which is taking place in Jurmala and Riga between July 11 - 17, and whose honorary president is Emir Kusturica. He will share the stage with his grandson and continuator of musical traditions - Jivan Gasparyan Jr.
What should you know about Jivan Gasparyan?
The 83-year-old Yerevan Conservatory professor Jivan Gasparyan sings and plays the duduk - an ancient wind instrument made from apricot wood. He is one of the most famous Armenian musicians, a living legend of music and winner of four UNESCO gold medals (in 1959, 1962, 1973 and 1980). He has repeatedly travelled the world with a small orchestra on his concert tours. He has collaborated with many outstanding musicians: Andreas Vollenweider, Lionel Richie, Peter Gabriel, Hans Zimmer, Brian May, Boris Grebenshikov, Irina Allegrova, Vladimir Presnyakov, Michael Brook and Derek Sherinian.
What is the world saying about Jivan Gasparyan?
"Gasparyan turns every one of his concerts into an exciting, sad, passionate, nostalgic, and awe-inspiring drama,"
John Pareles, New York Times
"This music creates such a strong emotional bond that even the smallest noise seems like an insult to the trusting relationship that develops between the musician and his audience,"
Los Angeles Weekly
"This is one of the most beautiful and spiritual records I have ever heard (I Will Not Be Sad In This World),"
Brian Eno
"I have always wanted to write music for Jivan Gasparyan. I think he is one of the most surprising musicians in the world. He creates a distinctive, in a sense unique sound, that sticks in your memory right away,"
Hans Zimmer, composer for the film Gladiator
Biography
Jivan Gasparyan was born in 1928, in the small town of Soluga near Yerevan. At the age of six he picked up a duduk and began learning to play it intuitively. In 1948 he performed on the stage of the Great Theatre with an amateur group as part of a USSR artist's show. Stalin himself was in the hall, and he was so taken with the young musician's playing that after the concert he called him over. The young man felt afraid, but Stalin, with a good-natured smile, presented him with a gold watch. Jivan accepted the gift with a blush, but later he and his friends sold it to relieve their hunger.
In 1956, Jivan received his first award at a duduk musician's competition. In 1959, he first received a gold medal at the IV UNESCO worldwide music festival. He received his second gold medal in 1962, while after his third (in 1973), the Armenian government awarded him the title of People's Artist of Armenia. In 1980 he received a fourth medal.
In 1988, the English musician Brian Eno has a concert in Moscow. He accidentally hears Jivan's duduk playing and invites him to London. This moment marks a new, international phase in his career, which brings Jivan Gasparyan global fame. He puts out his first album I will not be sad in this world, which includes old Armenian songs and ballads, and dedicates it to the victims of the Armenian earthquake.
During the uprising in Armenia, the musician is forced to leave his homeland. After returning, Jivan Gasparyan becomes a professor of the Yerevan Conservatory. At the same time, the Black Rock album (together with Michael Brook) is being made at the Real World record company. This is also the start of his enduring collaboration with Peter Gabriel, who is writing music for the film The Last Temptation of Christ.
Jivan Gasparyan begins playing concerts all over the world. He performs with the Kronos Quartet and with the symphonic orchestras of Vienna, Yerevan and London. Concerts take place both in Europe and Asia. In 1999, he composes the soundtrack for the film The Siege, while in 2000 he begins collaborating with Hans Zimmer, who is writing music for Gladiator. In 2001, the ballad that from which all the film's music is derived brings Gasparyan a Golden Glove.
Djivan Gasparyan has taken part in creating the soundtracks for many films, including Russian Don, Onegin, The Crow, The Siege, Calendar and Doctor Zhivago.
In November 2001, he works with Boris Grebenshikov on the album Sister Chaos, and the heartbreaking melodies of the duduk interlace with the songs of the band Akvarium for the first time.
In 2002, at the WOMEX festival in the German town of Essen, Jivan receives the prestigious Womex Lifetime Achievement Award.
The music of Gasparyan can no longer be described as purely Armenian folk melodies. The miraculous sounds of the duduk can now be heard not just within folk and sacred music, but also in symphonic music, jazz, rock and even film soundtracks. And these transformations are down to one man - Jivan Gasparyan, king of the duduk, or simply Uncle Jivan, as many affectionately call him.
Tickets - Biļešu serviss (www.bilesuserviss.lv)
www.mffestival.com
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Casting for International competition of young singers of popular music "New Wave 2010"
Venue and time has been agreed upon for the International competition of young popular music performers "Jaunais Vilnis 2010" („New Wave 2010")
Traffic restrictions in Jurmala during the competition „New Wave"
