Artist Profiles: Arsen Petrosyan

Arsen Petrosyan is a prestigious Armenian duduk player born in Charentsavan in 1994, where he currently still resides. His family originally hails from an Armenian enclave in the Republic of Georgia called Javakhk. His ancestral homeland is in Erzurum (now it modern day Turkey).

Petrosyan received his Masters Degree in Music (Duduk concentration) from the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, where he studied under prestigious duduk maestro Gevorg Dabaghyan. Deemed a musical prodigy, he initially began his studies with mentor Krikor Khachtryan, beginning with the shvi (an Armenian wind instrument) at the age of six.

At a young age, Petrosyan became an experienced professional who performed extensively throughout the United States, Russia, Canada, India, Germany, Spain, France, the Republic of Georgia as well as his native Armenia.

He also formed his own group, the Arsen Petrosyan Trio. Petrosyan has also participated as a member of the Naregatsi Ensemble.

Petrosyan has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including guitarist Steve Hackett (Genesis), Emirati composer Ihab Darwish, and ud player Omar Bashir among others. As a solo artist and with both of his ensembles, the A.G.A Trio (, a collaboration with Georgian and Anatolian musicians) and the Arsen Petrosyan Quartet, he has performed throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus.  In 2020, Petrosyan released an album with A.G.A. Trio.

Discography:

Charentsavan: Music for Armenian Duduk (Pomegranate Music, 2015)
Meeting, with A.G.A. Trio (Naxos World/ARC Music, 2020)

Author: Angel Romero

Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.