Duduk & Piano: The Sounds of Magic

Café Duduk is a musical adventure that was inspired by a love for Armenian duduk music. Duduk player Sar Kamler and pianist Viktor Kott combine their talents to present enchanting sounds of duduk and piano in this romantic July evening. The evening will feature performances by special guests Ahmet Ihvani and Paula Sofia.

The Duduk

The duduk (/du:ˈdu:k/ doo-DOOK; or “tsiranapogh” in Armenian meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia, however variations of the Armenian duduk appear throughout the Caucasus and Middle East.

Having existed for around 1,200 years, this double-reed wind instrument is characterized by a warm, soft, slightly nasal timbre, with a rawness that draws parallels to the human voice. It is a stunning, soulful, and emotionally powerful instrument that speaks to everyone in some way, no matter what their race, color, or religious beliefs are.

The duduk has been on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2008.

About

Viktor Kott (Viktor Kotov) is a professional musician who is always on the move and looking for new ideas. Professionally trained as a pianist in Kharkov, Ukraine, Victor immigrated to Canada in 2003 where he also mastered a variety of other instruments, such as the duduk, melodica, Irish flute, and jaw harp (khomus). Viktor is an accomplished pianist and composer in addition to his many other talents. He recorded and produced two solo albums containing his original compositions, You & Me (2014) and Unconditional Love (2015).

A true believer that music has the capacity to heal the mind, body, and soul, Sar Kamler (Armen Matosyan) is a Toronto-based musician whose sound pivots around the duduk, a double-reeded woodwind instrument native to Armenia. It's through a deep understanding of the duduk that Sar now centres his music around the themes of love, believing that a lot of light can be brought into our world through his idyllic style of music.

This is Café Duduk's first live concert following their debut album release "Live at Number 9".

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• ReverbNation: https://www.reverbnation.com/caféduduk
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cafe.duduk/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTGLGmyBkTFspikLteP3Pdw

Special Guests

Ahmet Ihvani started playing the baglama at primary school. Thanks to his musical roots coming from his family, he was no stranger to baglama and the Anatolian (minstrel) poetry. Besides being trained in solfege and baglama, he also worked on the craft of making the instrument with prominent luthiers in Turkey. He gave baglama classes at certain music schools; and he played for numerous notable artists in Turkey. Living in Canada since 1998, Ahmet Ihvani performed with many musicians coming from diverse cultures. He shared a duet with ethnomusicologist prof. Irene Markoff on the recording of Anton Apostolov. He released his first solo album Isk Ile… (with Love) in 2011. This was followed by his second album Dem U Dem (Time and Libation) in 2015. Ahmet Ihvani’s third solo album Perde (The Frets) was released in 2020 by Kalan Music Turkey. In past 12 years besides three solo album he also released 6 singles and two duets. Working with ethnic music virtuosos from Turkey, Ukraine, Iran, India, Bulgaria and Canada, Ahmet Ihvani keeps giving concerts in North America, Europe and Turkey.

Singer-songwriter Paula Sofía was born in Guatemala City and is now based in Toronto. Her first solo project, Quinto de Hora (which translates into “A Fifth of an Hour”), produced by Alysha Brilla, is an album of 12 one-minute songs. This marks the beginning of her career as she plans to release the other 4 “Fifths of an Hour” over the years, collaborating with different artists to get “Around the Clock in 60 songs.” She is currently working on her next musical project.