All Star Traditional Band
Khatchig Jingirian
Khatchig is an accomplished Armenian singer/musician. For over 20 years, has performed at numerous festivals, dances and private parties all over the United States and Canada. He is a versatile performer, having been exposed to various genres (modern, traditional, kef, etc) of Armenian music and blends them to create his own unique style. He has released 3 albums of Armenian music and plays keyboards and percussion as well.
Khatchig was born and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Along with music, he studied business at CSU Fresno and went on to earn an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management. When not holding a microphone, he spends his time as president of Jingirian Fine Jewelry.
You can visit Khatchig’s website athttp://www.khatchig.com/
Jim Kzirian
Jim started his formal musical training with violin at the age of 6. He continued his musical education moving to percussion in his teens. During his early years, he was influenced by his mother’s musical family, which included singers and saxophone players who most often performed at family functions and gatherings.
Jim is now a vocalist and performs on doumbeg at Armenian functions all throughout the United States and Canada. Jim is very excited to be performing on the Armenian Heritage Cruise once again, as he has for the past several years.
Antranig Kzirian
As a member of the Aravod Ensemble, Antranig performs widely across the US, Canada and Europe on the oud, and has performed at festivals and concerts to packed houses of thousands of attendees. Antranig’s fabulous oud playing has taken him from Philadelphia to New York, London, Montreal, Boston, Washington, Montreal, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Detroit, San Juan and Charlotte among numerous other destinations.
Antranig’s command of the guitar has also garnered him much acclaim in music circles around the country. Aside from his extensive touring schedule, Antranig has recorded various works with the Aravod Ensemble, History and has participated in collaborations with other recording artists as a composer, writer and experienced studio musician. The theoretical framework within which Antranig operates musically allows him to arrange thoughtful and profound musical landscapes, and he is called upon frequently for his unique interpretation of the oud. When he’s not teaching guitar and oud to music students to pass on Armenian music and culture, Antranig ventures into fusion and other world music projects and enjoys exploring the Sitar and violin. Antranig also is an accomplished performer on the guitar, bass, saz and bouzouki. Antranig holds a degree in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Villanova University’s Law School. His musical influences include Oudi Hrant Kenkulian, the Armenian oud master, George Mgrdichian, Richard Hagopian, John Berberian, John Bilezikjian, Simon Shaheen, Roger Mgrdichian, Fred Elias, Bill Aliferis, Chick Ganimian, and Dick Barsamian, as well as the bands Metallica, Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Alice & Chains, Live, Soundgarden, & Primus.
Mal Barsamian
Mal’s musical career began when he was four years old playing with his father Leo at an Armenian Picnic. Mal comes from a family of Oud players starting from his grandfather, his great -uncle, his uncle and of course his father. He has gone on to become a sought-after player of the oud and dumbeg as well as instruments such as clarinet, guitar, and saxophone in the Armenian and Greek communities for over thirty years. Mal is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor’s and Masters degree in Classical Guitar Performance. Mal is well known as a clarinetist in the Armenian field.
He has been performing with Richard Berberian for over thirty years.
He had been with the Armenian Heritage Cruise as a performer for eight years. Mal always looks forward to this event every year.
Richard Berberian
Richard has been performing traditional Armenian folk and dance music professionally since the age of 14. A classically trained musician and accomplished educator, Richard holds both Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Massachusetts, and a Doctor of Education degree from Boston University. His musical passion however is researching, documenting and performing the traditional Armenian village folk dances that were brought to the United States by the “first golden generation” of Armenians in the early part of the century.
Richard has performed on Oud and as a Vocalist for Concerts, Dances and Weddings throughout North America and abroad, and of course the Armenian Heritage Cruise! Together with Mal Barsamian, their recordings of traditional Armenian dance music consistently set the standard for documenting and preserving this genre for future generations.
