In collaboration with the music section of the Studies and Documentation Centre of Armenian Culture, Venice, directed by Minas Lourian, the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies has organized its second seminar on the duduk, a double-reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood.

A symbol of the Armenian musical tradition, the duduk (conventionally called the “Armenian oboe”) is a very popular instrument with a warm slightly nasal tone creating evocative sounds. It is played to accompany songs and dancing in all the regions of Armenia and is the principal instrument at weddings and funerals.

In 2005 the duduk (or dziranapogh in Armenian) was decreed a masterpiece representing the Armenian musical tradition in the UNESCO “Programme of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. The director of the relevant section is the celebrated musician Gevorg Dabaghyan, who will be the leading player in the seminar.

A teacher at the Yerevan State College, Gevorg Dabaghyan is a major living expert on this very ancient instrument. He has founded several ensembles, including Shoghaken, a group dedicated to conserving the very rich Armenian folk music heritage. Liturgical music also features prominently in Dabaghyan’s vast repertory and is a fundamental part of a thousand-year old tradition characterised by strong Christian roots, going back to when Armenia was the first country to proclaim Christianity as its state religion in 301.