Armenian
Fresno, California
Photo courtesy of Tom Pich
Richard Hagopian is America’s foremost player of the oud, a round-bodied and short-necked lute, and principal instrument in Armenian music. Widely acclaimed as a virtuosic musician, he is esteemed in diasporic Armenian communities and beyond for his dedication to preserving Armenian culture and passing it on to further generations. He has conducted decades of research on Armenian music and dance, recorded several albums, and taught master classes around the country. Among his many honors, Richard received a 1989 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor for folk and traditional artists.
Hagopian was born to Armenian parents in 1937 in the San Joaquin Valley around Fresno, California. In the wake of the 1915 genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turkey, this area became home to one of the largest Armenians communities in the world. As a young boy, Richard demonstrated an aptitude for music, and after studying the violin and clarinet, took up the oud, studying with acclaimed kanun (72-string zither) master Kanouni Garbis Bakirgian. Hagopian sought out elders in his community to learn all facets of the tradition, collecting phonograph recordings of old masters, examining millennia-old liturgical musical texts of the Armenian Church, and learning the dance steps that accompanied traditional tunes. He quickly mastered this complex instrument and repertoire; in 1969, the internationally famous virtuoso Oudi Hrant Kenkulian bestowed on Hagopian the title of Oudi, the honorific given to oud masters.
Outside of his significant musical contributions, Hagopian has steadfastly supported his family over the years. After the death of his father when Richard was a senior in high school, he took over the management of the family farm, doing side work as a musician. This grew into the lauded Kef Time Band and a stint performing in Las Vegas; after two years performing in nightclubs, he moved his young family back to the San Joaquin Valley where he opened a delicatessen, running it for 36 years before retiring back to the family farm.
Richard has passed down his passion for Armenian music to several generations of his own family. His son, Harold, began his study of Armenian music with his father at age five. He is known not only for his skill on the kanun, clarinet, and classical violin, which he studied at the Julliard School, but also for his work as a Grammy-nominated record producer. Harold’s passion for Middle Eastern music led him to found the Traditional Crossroads label in 1993, which features the best Middle Eastern musicians from many eras. Richard’s grandchildren and Harold’s nephews, Philip and Andrew, also started playing music at a young age, tapping out rhythms on a small dumbeg (goblet-shaped hand drum), strumming on an oud, or singing at home and in local community celebrations. Each have apprenticed with their grandfather through the Alliance for California Traditional Arts’s Apprenticeship Program: Philip in 2006 to refine oud technique, and Andrew in 2011 to improve his skill on the kanun.
Together, all three generations of the Hagopian family will join each other on stage in Richmond—Richard on oud, Harold on clarinet, Philip on dumbeg, and Andrew on guitar—a testament to Richard’s legacy and impact. As he reflects, “Maybe I’ve left this little bit of enjoyment and helped extend the culture of our people.”