Ara Dinkjian (; born June 18, 1958) is an

Armenian-American Armenian Americans () are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in Russia. The first major wave of Armenian immig ...

musician. He is the founder of the band Night Ark. Dinkjian is an oud player. His compositions, which have been recorded in thirteen different languages, include the multi-platinum hit Dinata which was performed in the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Dinkjian has written songs for

Eleftheria Arvanitaki Eleftheria Arvanitaki (Greek: Ελευθερία Αρβανιτάκη) (born 17 October 1957 in Piraeus) is a Greek folk singer. She originates from the island of Icaria. Arvanitaki has worked with musicians such as Cesária Évora, Arto Tunç ...

, and

Sezen Aksu Sezen Aksu (; born Fatma Sezen Yıldırım; 13 July 1954) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and producer. She is one of the most successful Turkish people, Turkish singers, having sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Q ...

("Vazgeçtim", "Sarışın", "Yine Mi Çiçek", "Hoş Geldin", among others). Turkish singers Gülşen, Kibariye, ,

Ahmet Kaya Ahmet Kaya (28 October 1957 – 16 November 2000) was a Turkish– Kurdish folk singer. Kaya was persecuted by Turkish nationalist celebrities and authorities. Kaya left Turkey in an act of self-exile, and moved to France, where he would shor ...

, Coşkun Sabah,

Burcu Güneş Burcu Güneş (; born 12 August 1975) is a Turkish singer-songwriter. Burcu Güneş, who is also known for her works on animal rights participated in a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and animal rights activists in February 2 ...

have recorded his songs.

Early life

Born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

parents originating from Diyarbakir,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Dinkjian made his professional debut at age five playing on the doumbag at the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...

, where he accompanied

John Berberian John J. Berberian (born October 9, 1941 Sivas) is an American musician known for his virtuosity on the oud, the Middle Eastern stringed instrument. Early life Berberian was born in Sivas, Turkey as the son of Armenian family. His father, Yervant ...

and George Mgrdichian. His earliest professional musical experience was accompanying his father Onnik Dinkjian, a renowned singer of Armenian folk music and liturgical chants. He received a scholarship to

The Hartt School The Hartt School is the performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford, a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and Moshe Paranov, Hartt has been part of the University of Hartford since it ...

, a performing arts college in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 64,083 at the 20 ...

. Dinkjian learned several western and eastern instruments (piano, guitar,

darbuka The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-shaped body. It is ...

) and in 1980 graduated from the Hartt College of Music, a degree in the oud.

Career

Dinkjian formed an instrumental quartet, Night Ark, which recorded four CDs for RCA/BMG and Universal/PolyGram. Members included

Arto Tunçboyacıyan Arto Sedraki Tunchboyachyan (; ; born August 4, 1957) is an Armenian American avant-garde folk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer of Armenian descent. He fronts his Armenian Navy Band group and is also a member of the instrumental quartet ...

on the percussion as well as pianist/composer

Armen Donelian Armen Hrant Donelian (born December 1, 1950) is a jazz pianist, composer, educator and author. Donelian was classically trained at the Westchester Conservatory of Music in White Plains, New York. He has appeared since 1975 as a featured soloist ...

and Marc Johnson. He is accompanied by

Zohar Fresco Zohar Fresco (; born 1969) is an Israeli percussionist and composer, specializing in the frame drum. He is known to have created his personal musical technique that combines various styles of playing the frame drum. He is a member of the jazz tr ...

on percussion and on keyboards. In 2002 Dinkjian was chosen to represent

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in the First International Meeting Of The Oud, where twelve of the world’s top oud players gathered in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, Greece for three days of solo concerts, master classes, and exchange of information. His CDs ''An Armenian In America'', ''Voice Of Armenians'', and ''Peace On Earth'' were recorded live at the 2005, 2006, and 2007

Jerusalem International Oud Festival The Israel Oud Festival was founded in 2000 in Jerusalem, by producer and musical director Eli Grunfeld. In 2003 Grunfeld initiated an extension of the festival in Tel Aviv, at the 'Tzavta' theatre. The Tel Aviv Oud Festival takes place every yea ...

s. At the 2008

, he recorded an album with –

lyra , from ; pronounced: ) is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was often represented on star ...

(Greece), Tamer Pinarbasi – kanun (Turkey), Rimon Haddad – bass (Palestina) and Zohar Fresco – percussion (Israel), and named it ''Peace on Earth''. Dinkjian released a solo oud recording, ''Conversations With Manol'' (2013), as well as ''Finding Songs'' (2013), which features 12 new compositions performed by the Ara Dinkjian Quartet. Other releases include ''Diyarbekiri Hokin'' (

for ''The Soul of Diyarbekir'') which is a collaboration with his father Onnik, as well as 1915–2015 ''Truth & Hope'', commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. Dinkjian has collaborated with kanunist Tamer Pınarbaşı and clarinetist in chamber-music style arrangements of ethnic folk, pop, classical, jazz, and original compositions. Collectively known as The Secret Trio, they released their first CD, ''Soundscapes'', in 2012 and their second, ''Three Of Us'', in 2015.

Discography

Night Ark

* 1986 - ''Picture'', RCA/Novus * 1988 - ''Moments'', RCA/Novus * 1998 - ''In Wonderland'', PolyGram * 2000 - ''Petals on your Path'',

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Bob Shad for the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Cli ...

* 2000 - '' Treasures'', Traditional Crossroads

Ara Dinkjian - solo and with friends

* 1995 ''Gypsy Fire'', Traditional Crossroads * 1996 ''Tears of Dignity'', Libra Music * 1996 ''Onno 1948 - 1996'', D. Stove Music * 2006 ''An Armenian In America'', Krikor Music * 2008 ''Peace on Earth'', Krikor Music * 2012 ''Sounscapes'', Traditional Crossroads * 2013 ''Finding Songs'', Krikor Music * 2013 ''Conversations with Manol'', Kalan Music * 2015 ''Three of Us'', with Secret Trio, Kalan Music * 2015 ''1915-2015 Hakikat Umut / Truth Hope'', Kalan Music

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinkjian, Ara 1958 births Living people American people of Armenian descent American oud players American multi-instrumentalists University of Hartford Hartt School alumni