Antranig Kzirian sits down with Becca Stevens, Ara Dinkjian, Ismail Lumanovski, and Tamer Pinarbaşi to discuss their new collaboration entitled "Becca Stevens and The Secret Trio". 2021 GRAMMY-nominated Becca Stevens was in awe witnessing The Secret Trio’s performance at the GroundUP Music Festival a few years ago. The Secret Trio is made up of an …

Talented young Oud player and singer Aliya Cycon joins the podcast. She was born and raised in America, but her music suggests otherwise. Singing in Arabic, Spanish and English, while showing off her exciting and virtuosic Oud playing, Aliya shares her curiosity for the world through her original compositions and multi-cultural covers. She has perf…

Violinist, Educator, Producer & Writer Dr. Nune Melik joins the podcast. As a soloist she has performed at Carnegie Hall and founded the Hidden Treasure International, which comprises research, performance, and lectures of rarely heard music. Recently she received her doctorate from McGill University, defending her thesis on Arno Babajanian. Topics…

Danny Shamoun, a Los-Angeles based multi-instrumentalist originally hailing from Detroit, discusses how he started with Middle Eastern Music and transitioned to performing with System of a Down (SOAD), joining Scars of Broadway as a keyboardist, learning the Arabian Ney Flute and the impact of music theory and Makam modal based music. Topics includ…

Aram interviews Hachig Kazarian from Detroit, whose clarinet defines the Armenian-American clarinet sound which shaped the musical experiences of entire generations of Diaspora Armenians living in the United States for much of the 20th century. Having attended the famed Juilliard School of Music in the 60’s, Kazarian was a key member of the widely …

Joseph Tayoun, an accomplished percussionist and educator specializing in Middle Eastern and World music based in Philadelphia discusses the history of Philadelphia's Middle East Night Club, his experience playing in a multitude of world music projects and his Star Trek Party band, The Roddenberries, upcoming release. Topics include: Tayoun as the …

Peter Deneff, an accomplished Pianist and Jazz Fusion musician, discusses his background, his involvement in the Los Angeles Middle Eastern Music club Scene, and his approach to microtonality and Jazz music. Topics Include: Deneff’s background as a Greek-American keyboard/piano musician, growing up in Long Beach/Los Angeles Impact of the bouzouki o…

Andrew sits down and interviews Oud master John Berberian about his life, 50-year career in music, balancing work and the arts and performing throughout the country. Topics Include: Working with record labels making albums with Mainstream Records, Verve Forecast, RCA and MGM starting in the early 1960s The thriving Middle Eastern music scene of Ber…

We’re huge fans of the Oud – a fretless pear-shaped instrument that’s similar to a lute and known as “the grandfather of the guitar”. We love the dynamics and microtonal flexibility it affords players – not being restricted to frets can be liberating and offers so much in terms of tone and sound that you simply can’t get anywhere else! Especially w…

Welcome to the first episode of the TAQS.IM Middle Eastern Music Podcast, which discusses playing, performing and appreciating Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian, Balkan, Greek, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish music and more. Topics Include: Introduction to the TAQS.IM podcast with Andrew Kzirian and Aram Hovagimian of TAQS.IM, focusing on Middle-Eastern music T…