Miqayel Voskanyan And Friends Band

Celebrated tar-player Miqayel Voskanyan formed the “Miqayel Voskanyan & Friends” ethnic jazz and folk fusion music band in 2011 as a creative outlet for his experimental and self-expressive compositions. He has managed to create modern, innovative music with an ancient instrument that has historically been limited to traditional folk music. The tar is a long-necked double-bowled instrument carved from mulberry and walnut wood. The fingerboard has twenty-five to twenty-eight adjustable gut frets. Its range is about two and one-half octaves. The “Miqayel Voskanyan & Friends” band has successfully incorporated the tar to create a musical style with a fresh and modern sound. Their highly distinguishable music is a concoction of jazz, fusion, Armenian folk, rock, funk and elements of world music. In 2013, "Miqayel Voskanyan & Friends" won the "Best Band of the Year" award at the Radio Van Music Awards. In spring 2014, the band received a special invitation to perform at the Made In New York Jazz Competition Gala Concert in New York City. On May 3, 2014 the band got a great opportunity to play at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center NY with legendary jazz artists Randy Brecker and Lenny White . In the summer of the same year, the band received an invitation for representing Armenia at Caucasus Cultural Festival held in Seoul , the capital city of South Korea. The band is always pushing the limits of expression, nurturing the constant evolution of their sound. Their creative energy is unlimited. "Miqayel Voskanyan & Friends" frequently performs at most of Armenia’s popular music clubs and festivals in Armenia and abroad. At the end of 2014 they recorded their debut CD album.