Duo Oskia - Troubadours d'Arménie

The Duo Oskia programme is made up of songs by Armenian troubadours and an improvised dialogue between the instruments.

In Armenia, the tradition of the achoughs or goussans (troubadours) has its roots in Antiquity. It was first practised by the nobility, both men and women alike. Then, over time, as the lords devoted themselves more to war than to music, the common people took up the torch, and so the tradition has continued to this day, kept alive by them.

Rouben Haroutunian was born in Iran into a family where singing is a tradition he inherits.

He is a founding member of the musical ensembles Eptachordio (early music), with Maître Javier Hinojosa, Arena Blanca (flamenco), with Claude Worms and Maguy Naïmi, of the ensemble Kotchnak (Armenian music), and a member of the ensemble Taneen-o-Tan, created by the master percussionist Madjid Khaladj.

He creates the musical accompaniments for plays and short films, Chant mystérieux du silence and Nirvana.

Alongside his work as an instrumentalist, he develops his own style of interpreting Armenian song.

Armenian singing, in its simplicity, is the expression of man united with nature. At the same time, this simplicity is a complex system, just like nature itself.

Anouch Donabédian-Krikorian was born in Marseille, where she studied the violin. She then discovered a special connection with the bowed kamantcha and trained under the Armenian master Gaguik Mouradian. In Paris, she joined the group Kotchnak.