Tag Archives: oud

From Song to Autographs: When History Took the Stage

There are moments in Armenian music that remind us why we do what we do—why we sing, why we play, why we hold so tightly to the songs of our ancestors. One of those moments happened recently at Camp Haiastan, … Continue reading

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Reflecting on a 2023 Musical Journey

As the curtains draw on 2023, I find myself humbled and grateful for the musical journey this year has unfolded. It’s been a year filled with melodies, challenges, and milestones, and I’m excited to share some of the highlights from … Continue reading

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Artsakh-Armenia Relief Concert on Dec. 12th

Over the past several months we have experienced many groups throughout the diaspora helping both raise awareness and funds due to the war in Artsakh. These groups have been innovative in putting together products or offering their talents to help … Continue reading

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The Next Generation of Armenian Musicians

A topic of continued discussion has always surrounded the “next generation” when it pertains to industry or when discussing the future of just about anything. Music is no stranger to this conversation as a matter of fact, it is imperative … Continue reading

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Karim Bader, Legendary Arab Oudist

Abdul Karim Bader, renown Arab oud master has passed away on February 24, 2019 in Farmington Hills, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Bader was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1921.  “Abdel Karim” means “servant of the generous,” a reference to … Continue reading

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Chick: The Blue Collar Musician

As I was growing up listening to Armenian music, there were different groups of instrumentalist musicians that I was aware of that played folk music. One of those groups of musicians were oud players. As far as I was concerned, … Continue reading

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Amer-abic Percussionist Remembered: Eddie “the Sheik” Kochak

2018 marked the end of another legendary icon of Middle Eastern music in America, his name was Eddie “the Sheik” Kochak. He was 97 years old. Another way to describe Kochak would be to refer to him as a personality. … Continue reading

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TheOudPlayer Releases Album – nOUD

Antranig Kzirian has always loved music and so it was no surprise that he gravitated to the oud (Middle Eastern lute) as a young Armenian musician from Philadelphia. “The oud cast a spell over me from a young age. The … Continue reading

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The Promise – Detroit Premiere

In many ways, this is a difficult blog for me to put together. So many thoughts and directions I want to take and talk about surrounding the major motion picture, The Promise especially as today marks the 102nd anniversary of … Continue reading

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Creative Profile: Victor Ghannam, Musician

Victor Ghannam is a self taught musician who has performed throughout Europe, the Middle East, North, Central, and South America on a variety of instruments, mainly the Oud and Qanun. He began his musical life at the age of 4 … Continue reading

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