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Zakar Keshishian

Conductor,  performer of duduk & Shvi (Folk wind instruments).

Born Anjar, Lebanon,  Maestro Zakar Keshishian got his training in Folk Instruments and Choir Conducting at the  Komtas State Conservatory in Yerevan, Armenia. He completed his post-graduate studies with distinction, also in Yerevan, in 1996.

Keshishian has founded and conducted a number of choirs both in Lebanon and Armenia. A born pedagogue, he is beloved by the young singers of his children’s choirs and much respected by the members of the adult mixed choirs he has led. A firm believer in the magical properties of music in general and choir music in particular, Keshishian has guided many students both in war-torn Lebanon and in Armenia to the world of beauty and the art. Many of the members of his choirs, as well as many of his theory and wind instrument students at the National Conservatory of Lebanon or at the Armenian Ganatchian Music School (Lebanon) have embraced professional musicians’ careers.

 He is the founder of several  choirs: the Gakavig choir of the Hamazkayin Educational and Cultural Society (1988); Dziadzan (1992); Varanda (1992) in the town of Shushi, Mountainous Karabakh (Artsakh); the Gargatch choir (1997) and the Ayc  Armenian Youth Choir (2008), the latter two under the auspices of the Hamazkayin Educational and Cultural Society.