Several Armenian and Iranian cultural figures expressed their condolences over the death of the legendary Armenian duduk player Jivan Gasparyan, who died on Tuesday at the age of 92, his grandson said.

Kayhan Kalhor and Hossein Alizadeh, who had the experience of working with Gasparyan, offered condolences for the loss of the artist.

“Gasparyan breathed a lifetime of love into his duduk so that its magic would remain in the hearts of lovers. With his instrument, he dedicated the message of love, friendship and peace to the world,” Alizadeh wrote in a message.

Gasparyan staged a performance on the first day of the 32nd Fajr International Music Festival.

President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, sent a letter of condolence over the death of Gasparyan, the presidential office told Armenpress.

“With deep sorrow I learnt about the death of Armenian duduk legend, the People’s Artist, Jivan Gasparyan.”

Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan issued the following statement on the artist’s death.

“Our nation and the world music community considered Jivan Gasparyan an exceptional Armenian intellectual and ranked him among the greats of the world of art. We were proud and inspired by him,” he said, according to hetq.am.

The supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II, sent a condolence message to the family of duduk player, the People’s Artist of Armenia Jivan Gasparyan, as reported the Information System of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

The message reads as follows: “Talented Armenian duduk player Jivan Gasparyan passed away with great merit, and he was loved and respected by the Armenian people. For decades, he performed Armenian music in Armenia and abroad, serving for recognition and dissemination of the Armenian culture.”

“The performances by the late Jivan Gasparyan were also widely used in foreign films that achieved huge success. With his style and taste, the master of the duduk received several prizes and awards in Armenia and abroad and was granted high state titles.”

“The world has suffered unimaginable loss tonight. Not only an icon, but a beautiful soul. May he rest in peace,” the artist’s grandson Jivan Gasparyan Jr. said in a Facebook post.

Born in Solak, Armenia to parents from Mush, Gasparyan started to play the duduk when he was six. In 1948, he became a soloist of the Armenian Song and Dance Popular Ensemble and the Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra, armradio.am reported.

He won four medals at UNESCO worldwide competitions (1959, 1962, 1973, and 1980). In 1973 Gasparyan was awarded the honorary title ‘People’s Artist of Armenia’. In 2002, he received the WOMEX (World Music Expo) Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an honorary citizen of Yerevan.

He has toured the world with a small ensemble playing Armenian folk music. His music has been chosen on the soundtrack of several foreign films, including the ‘Gladiator’.

He has collaborated with many artists, such as Sting, Peter Gabriel, Erkan Ogur, Michael Brook, Brian May, Lionel Richie, Derek Sherinian, Ludovico Einaudi, Luigi Cinque, Boris Grebenshchikov, Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Hans Zimmer and Andreas Vollenweider.

He also recorded with the Kronos Quartet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Gasparyan played as part of the Armenian entry, “Apricot Stone,” by Eva Rivas at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo and became the oldest ever person to feature in a Eurovision Song Contest performance.

Source: Iran Daily