John J. Berberian (born October 9, 1941) is an American musician known for his virtuosity on the

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, the Middle Eastern stringed instrument. Berberian was born in New York City as the son of Armenian immigrants. His father, Yervant Berberian, was an accomplished oud player and an instrument maker. Oud masters of Armenian, Turkish, and Greek heritage frequented his family's home. John Berberian started his musical education learning the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, but by the age of 10 began imitating his father on the oud. At the age of 16, he had his first job as a musician, playing the oud in a band in

Whitinsville, Massachusetts Whitinsville is an unincorporated village within the town of Northbridge in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Whitinsville is a census-designated place (CDP) and its population was 6,750 at the 2020 census. Whitinsville is pronoun ...

. "The Relationship: Hachig Kazarian and John Berberian", ''The Armenian Weekly'', September 19, 2014
Retrieved 1 June 2015 He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with a B.A. in economics, and received his MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. While a student, he performed regularly in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s. From the early 1960s, he recorded for a variety of labels including

Mainstream Records Mainstream Records was an American record company and independent record label founded by producer Bob Shad in 1964. Mainstream's early releases were reissues from Commodore Records. Its catalogue grew to include Bob Brookmeyer, Maynard Ferguson, ...

(his first label),

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

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, and

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

. He expanded beyond the ethnic music market in the mid to late 1960s, decades before " world music" became fashionable, with a series of LPs which explored fusions between traditional Middle Eastern music, psychedelic rock and jazz. These included ''Expressions East'' (1964), ''Music of the Middle East'' (1966), and ''Middle Eastern Rock'' (1969) with guitarist

Joe Beck Joe Beck (July 29, 1945 – July 22, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who was active for over 30 years. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Beck moved to Manhattan in his teens, playing six nights a week in a trio setting, which gave him an opp ...

. He also set up his own recording studio and record label, Olympia. Simultaneously with his career as a musician, he worked as a

purchasing agent Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or servi ...

in New York. He was awarded teaching grants as a musician by the

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of Pennsylvania's communities through the arts. This mission is paired wit ...

in 1996 and by the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2004. He has performed worldwide for over 40 years. "John Berberian", ''Armenian Church''
Retrieved September 1, 2022 He is a trustee of the Armenian Apostolic Church in

, and lives with his family in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Discography

* ''Expressions East'' (1964) * ''Oud Artistry'' (1965) * ''Music of the Middle East'' (1966) * ''Middle Eastern Rock'' (1969) * ''A Mid Eastern Odyssey'' (1973) * ''Echoes of Armenia'' (1976) * ''The Dance Album'' (1978)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berberian, John Living people 1941 births American oud players Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard Business School alumni American musicians of Armenian descent