Armenia's most famous folk musician was born in 1928, in Solag, a village near the Armenian capital Yerevan.He began to play the duduk at the age of 6 gaining much of his knowledge by listening to the great masters.He won Gold Medals in four world-wide competitions organised by UNESCO in which he competed (1959, 62, 73, 80). He has the unique distinction of being the only musician to be given the honorary title of People's Artist of Armenia in 1973.A professor at the Yerevan Conservatory, he has prepared over 70 duduk musicians for professional performance.He greatly enjoys teaching and it brings him joy to know that, through his efforts the tradition of duduk playing will not be lost.
Gasparyan has toured Europe, Asia and the Middle East.In the US has performed extensively in New York and Los Angeles (where he appeared with the LA Philharmonic).His recording of a selection of Armenian folk songs and ballads entitled i will not be Sad in This World,(1989) dedicated to the victims of the Armenian earthquake has received worldwide recognition.A recently finished CD with the Kronos Quartet is soon to be released.He has collaborated with the Lional Richie and Peter Gabriel and has recorded soundtracs for RussiaHouse and The Crow and Atom Egoyan's film Calendar,as well as for the American Hungarian television co-production Storm and Sorrow.
Djivan Gaparyan's duduk repertoire is primarily comprised od tradiotional Armenian folk songs.He is also an accomplished singer in the folk tradition and a composer.In addition to his original compositions and arrangenments of traditional songs,he has written love songs based on the poetry of Vahan Derian
For this tour he will be accompanied by three duduk players,offering audiences the full range of the duduk (soprano, tenor, baritone and bass) and also a drum.
Catch the new recording with Michael Brook on Realworld in 1998
Gasparyan devoted nearly all of his concert to slow songs, and he turned nearly every one into a quiet riveting drama, elegiac, sultry, nostalgic, reverent-Jon Parales New York Times
haunting...beautiful...one develops an emotional attachment to this music that is so strong than even the most minuscule bit of surface noise seems like an unholy violation of trust between musician and audience - LA Weekly
Without doubt one of the most beautiful and soulful recordings i have ever heard
(i will not be sad in this world) - Brian Eno.
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Djivan Gasparyan is unquestionably one of Armenia's greatest musicians, a living legend. He is the foremost virtuoso of the duduk, an ancient oboe-like instrument that is made of apricot wood and capable of sustaining drone notes for long periods of time.It is said that no other instrument is able to convey the emotions of the Armenian people as well as the duduk.In the hands of the master musician the duduk becomes the vehicle for haunting and meditative music that eloquently evokes the Armeniam landscape and its people. 
