The Armenian Guitars

As an Armenian, guitarist, oudist, and instrument designer, Levon Ichkhanian was inspired by the insightful words of Jose Ramirez III of the Ramirez Luthier Dynasty who, in his influential book Things About the Guitar, notes that, “The instrument [the oud] is not genuinely Arab; it emerged in the Christian Armenian communities in the first centuries A.C.” Not long after, Ichkhanian commissioned Luthier Khaled Al Halabi to custom build an oud with Armenian motifs and designs – an ‘Armenian oud.’ This experience further inspired Levon to create a comprehensive collection of guitars to add to the Armenian narrative, hence the title, ‘The Armenian Guitars.’ Ten years on, the collection is finally ready to be presented to the public for the first time. These guitars depict the Armenian narrative through paintings, etchings, engravings, inlays, and symbols, with motifs using gold, silver, amber, mother of pearl, and apricot wood from Armenia.

Levon Ichkhanian was born in Beirut Lebanon in 1964 into the world’s first diasporic Armenian family of musicians, which includes eleven Ichkhanian musicians over three generations. Levon’s first professional performance was at the age of thirteen with pioneer modern Armenian singer Adiss Harmandian. Over the past nearly five decades, Levon’s scope of knowledge has spanned over all areas of music – performing, composing, recording, touring, producing and music contracting/co-ordination in several genres including jazz, pop, world and traditional music. He has performed on over two hundred commercial recordings and has released three solo CDs: After Hours, Travels and Kick-n Jazz. Levon has toured the world performing in China, Armenia, Lebanon, Brazil, France, Portugal, Jerusalem, Qatar, Dubai, England, Singapore, USA/Canada, and India, at such events as: The Beijing Olympics, The International Guitar Festival of Great Britain, The World Handball Games in Doha, MIDEM in Cannes, All Star Guitar Night in Los Angeles, The Montreal Jazz Festival, Chet Atkins festival, and Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD.

Levon has worked with a diverse array of artists and organizations, including: The Toronto Symphony and Nashville Chamber Orchestras, The Stratford Festival, Atom Egoyan, Hal Wilner, Zakir Hussain, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Loreena McKennitt, A.R. Rahman, Marvin Hamlisch, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Elton John, David Foster, Sarah McLaughlin, Paul Anka, Donny and Marie, Chantal Kreviazuk, Brian Wilson, David Byrne, Twyla Tharp, Bernard Purdie, Rufus Wainwright, Daniel Lanois, Peter Murphy, K-os, Pauletta Washington, Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall, Janelle Monae, Marion J. Caffey, Alain Caron, David Suzuki, Emmylou Harris, Jann Arden, Gustavo Santaolalla, Josh Groban, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Paquito D’Rivera, John Patitucci, Alain Caron, The Eagles and The Who.

He is the artistic director of Global Village Creative Inc. – a multi-faceted international production company with emphasis on employing live musicians for musical theatre, concerts, recordings and tours. Selected engagements include: The Tenors, Barbara Streisand’s Back to Brooklyn and Brian Wilson’s Reimagines Gershwin tours, Hamilton, Ain’t Too Proud, Come From Away, Lion King, SIX, Les Misérables, The Sound of Music, Chicago, Wicked, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Phantom of the Opera, Aladdin, The Book of Mormon, Mean Girls, Newsies, Dear Evan Hansen, Next To Normal, Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story, South Pacific, Spamalot, Arrabal, Mary Poppins, Miss Saigon, Billy Elliot and Jersey Boys.

A current Ph.D. candidate at York University, Levon is also the recipient of the Governor General of Canada’s acknowledgment for musical excellence, the Anania Shirakatsi, AGBU’s Canada 150, the Marash and the Hamzkayin outstanding artist, the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and the Toronto Musicians’ Association Musician of the Year awards.