Ornament, Pitch & Mawwal for Voice
This course is in its first iteration, stemming from Khatchadour’s assessment of what else to bring to Western-trained singers, to help make Eastern microtonal singing more accessible. Though we will touch upon some portions of songs/repertoire, please note that this class is voice-technique heavy, emphasizing foundational Eastern vocal technique over repertoire. Though all are welcome to explore this new class format, prior singing experience and active solo and group engagement during class is a requirement in order to benefit from the course. This is a deep dive into vocal ornamentation, microtonality of Levant/Anatolia/Caucasus regions, and free-verse singing style development, which is known across those geographies and cultures.
About Khatchadour Khatchadourian
Khatchadour is a Lebanese-Armenian vocalist and musician. He sings in Armenian, Arabic and Farsi voice, and plays the Armenian woodwind, Duduk. He holds bachelor’s degrees in both Anthropology & Middle Eastern Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Khatchadour has released five albums to date and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.