Multi-instrumentalist/producer Levon Ichkhanian joins Shiela E, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Oliver Jones, Taylor Dane and others on the Marriage of Excellence Tour in China. The musical and cultural tours will deliver the highest quality entertainment performances with specially taped messages from Celine Dion, Chaka Khan and Itzhak Perlman. Held during the 10 days between the Olympics and Paralympic games, the tour will demonstrate the power of the Arts in fostering cross-cultural understanding and excellence that can be achieved when we live the notion of “One World, One Dream" ... the slogan for the 2008 Olympics.
This concept is not new to Levon, who was born in Lebanon, had traveled around the world with his musical director father, Edouard, before immigrating to Canada at the age of 12. Growing up in a family rich in music, his uncle Joseph is the founder of the Conservatory in Beirut (still in existence today), uncle Jacques was a flamenco guitarist, and cousin Hovannes Darbinian is the world leading scholar and performer of the Armenian Tar, it was only natural for Levon to follow suit performing his first professional gig at the age of 13.
“I had several monumental experiences growing up which had a rich influence on me culturally and musically. My Dad exposed me to jazz and continental music letting me sit in during his band rehearsals and taking the family to places like Yemen, Cyprus and Jordan. My uncle Joseph would often host gatherings filled with musicians, dancers and painters celebrating their art. I also have vivid memories of spending summer trips with my family to the Northern part of Lebanon. At night there would be parties filled with traditional Armenian and popular Arabic music (Adiss and Fairuz were the favorites), dancing and lots of food that went on until the small hours of the night. These experiences have influenced me profoundly in my music and in my person. I believe that music is the common voice for all cultures, so, it was an honour to be asked to perform and represent my culture during the Tour."
Over the past 30 years, Levon's scope of knowledge has spanned over all areas of music - performing, composing, recording, touring, and producing in several genres including Jazz, World and Traditional music. He is just fresh off performing the Canadian stage tour of Spamalot. His playing talents include fretless and fretted electric and acoustic guitars, Oud, Bouzouki, Banjitar and Mandolin, and most recently the Irish Bouzouki which he performed in the Orchestra for the stage production of The Lord Of The Rings.
Levon has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe, performing at festivals and concert halls such as Peter Gabriel's WOMAD, MIDEM (Cannes), Chet Atkins Musician Days (Nashville), All Star Guitar Night (Los Angeles), Montreal Jazz Festival and Pizza Express Jazz Club (London, UK) to name a few, in addition to touring with notables as Peter Murphy (of Bauhaus fame), Marisa Lindsay (singing sensation from Barbados) and A.R. Rahman's (one of the world's top 10 all-time top selling recording artists, and composer of stage productions Bombay Dreams and The Lord of the Rings) 3D World Tour which took Levon to India, Singapore, Dubai and the United Kingdom.
Levon has three solo C.D.s: Kick-n Jazz with Bernard Purdie, After Hours (which features Grammy Award winners Paquito D'Rivera and John Patitucci) and Travels (featuring Alain Caron), to rave reviews in All Music Guide to Jazz, Jazztimes, The Jazz Report, Canadian Musician, Gitarist, Horizon and Nor Gyank magazines to name a few. Levon has published articles in such magazines as Guitar Player and Canadian Musician, and has also been the subject of cover features for magazines as Muzic Etc, Canadian Musician and most recently Musicopro.
As a session musician, Levon has played on over one hundred diverse commercial recordings including The Canadian Idol's gold selling C.D., India's renowned singer Hariharan's latest Waqt Par Bolna, soprano and multiple Juno Award winner Isabel Bayrakdarian's Tango Notturno. He also performed on numerous soundtracks for films, commercials and television, including environmentalist David Suzuki's Nature of Things, the CBC documentaries Daughters of Afghanistan and Robbing the Cradle of Civilization (New York Festival's Silver World Medal winner for Television Documentary [International]), and AR Rahman's Guru, Sivaji and Rang De Basanti. He has also composed for the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and the Atlantic Jazz Society, scored soundtracks for the likes of acclaimed filmmaker Atom Egoyan, as well as produced artists C.D.s, concerts and staged productions.
Upon his return from performing in Beijing, Levon will be returning to the studio to record his next CD and is putting the finishing touches to an improvisation method book.
This concept is not new to Levon, who was born in Lebanon, had traveled around the world with his musical director father, Edouard, before immigrating to Canada at the age of 12. Growing up in a family rich in music, his uncle Joseph is the founder of the Conservatory in Beirut (still in existence today), uncle Jacques was a flamenco guitarist, and cousin Hovannes Darbinian is the world leading scholar and performer of the Armenian Tar, it was only natural for Levon to follow suit performing his first professional gig at the age of 13.
“I had several monumental experiences growing up which had a rich influence on me culturally and musically. My Dad exposed me to jazz and continental music letting me sit in during his band rehearsals and taking the family to places like Yemen, Cyprus and Jordan. My uncle Joseph would often host gatherings filled with musicians, dancers and painters celebrating their art. I also have vivid memories of spending summer trips with my family to the Northern part of Lebanon. At night there would be parties filled with traditional Armenian and popular Arabic music (Adiss and Fairuz were the favorites), dancing and lots of food that went on until the small hours of the night. These experiences have influenced me profoundly in my music and in my person. I believe that music is the common voice for all cultures, so, it was an honour to be asked to perform and represent my culture during the Tour."
Over the past 30 years, Levon's scope of knowledge has spanned over all areas of music - performing, composing, recording, touring, and producing in several genres including Jazz, World and Traditional music. He is just fresh off performing the Canadian stage tour of Spamalot. His playing talents include fretless and fretted electric and acoustic guitars, Oud, Bouzouki, Banjitar and Mandolin, and most recently the Irish Bouzouki which he performed in the Orchestra for the stage production of The Lord Of The Rings.
Levon has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe, performing at festivals and concert halls such as Peter Gabriel's WOMAD, MIDEM (Cannes), Chet Atkins Musician Days (Nashville), All Star Guitar Night (Los Angeles), Montreal Jazz Festival and Pizza Express Jazz Club (London, UK) to name a few, in addition to touring with notables as Peter Murphy (of Bauhaus fame), Marisa Lindsay (singing sensation from Barbados) and A.R. Rahman's (one of the world's top 10 all-time top selling recording artists, and composer of stage productions Bombay Dreams and The Lord of the Rings) 3D World Tour which took Levon to India, Singapore, Dubai and the United Kingdom.
Levon has three solo C.D.s: Kick-n Jazz with Bernard Purdie, After Hours (which features Grammy Award winners Paquito D'Rivera and John Patitucci) and Travels (featuring Alain Caron), to rave reviews in All Music Guide to Jazz, Jazztimes, The Jazz Report, Canadian Musician, Gitarist, Horizon and Nor Gyank magazines to name a few. Levon has published articles in such magazines as Guitar Player and Canadian Musician, and has also been the subject of cover features for magazines as Muzic Etc, Canadian Musician and most recently Musicopro.
As a session musician, Levon has played on over one hundred diverse commercial recordings including The Canadian Idol's gold selling C.D., India's renowned singer Hariharan's latest Waqt Par Bolna, soprano and multiple Juno Award winner Isabel Bayrakdarian's Tango Notturno. He also performed on numerous soundtracks for films, commercials and television, including environmentalist David Suzuki's Nature of Things, the CBC documentaries Daughters of Afghanistan and Robbing the Cradle of Civilization (New York Festival's Silver World Medal winner for Television Documentary [International]), and AR Rahman's Guru, Sivaji and Rang De Basanti. He has also composed for the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and the Atlantic Jazz Society, scored soundtracks for the likes of acclaimed filmmaker Atom Egoyan, as well as produced artists C.D.s, concerts and staged productions.
Upon his return from performing in Beijing, Levon will be returning to the studio to record his next CD and is putting the finishing touches to an improvisation method book.
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