Friends

Chris Bleth

Chris Bleth first heard the duduk in the early 1990s at a rare Los Angeles performance by Djivan Gasparyan, who is known throughout the world as the Master of the Armenian duduk. Soon after, Chris became Master Gasparyan’s first American student.

Chris also performs on many other world-music flutes as well as orchestral woodwinds such as oboe, English horn, flutes, clarinets, and saxophones. His recent film credits include featured solo duduk and world winds on “The Chronicles of Narnia.” He also performed on “Vantage Point,” “The Kite Runner,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” “The Simpsons Movie,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Evan Almighty,” and “The Game Plan” among many others.

Recent television credits include “Brothers and Sisters,” “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles;” “Eli Stone,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “King of the Hill,” and the NOVA/PBS special, “The Mummy Who Would Be King.”

Chris has played Duduk and other woodwinds on video games such as Myst 4, The Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones, and Medal of Honor: Rising Sun.

Chris has recorded with Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Tony Williams, Jose Feliciano, Azam Ali, Strunz & Farah, Jane’s Addiction, John Tesh, Enrique Iglesias as well as on three albums with the West Coast Saxophone Quartet, of which he was a founding member. He is a member of the oboe section of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and has also performed on oboe with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Ballet and American Ballet Theater.

Pedro Eustache

Venezuelan-born Pedro Eustache is an openly creative solo flautist-“World-Music” woodwinds-reeds-synthesist-composer, with a unique, richly eclectic, multi-directional personal voice. His musical language is the direct result of years of both solid studies and professional experience in the classical-European, Jazz, World-Music, Popular, and

Computer/Electronic music art forms. He graduated from European conservatories in classical music, has a M.F.A. in Jazz in the USA, & has studied world music disciplines with the greatest masters in the world, including Armenian duduk w/maestro Djivan Gasparian, and Indian classical w/Pdts. Ravi Shankar & Hariprasad Chaurasia, to name a few.

He is the main world-winds instrumentalist in John Debney’s soundtrack for Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” movie [nominated for best film-music for the 2005 Oscars]. He was a featured soloist in the ’05 Grammy-award winner “Concert For George”, playing for the first time ever the Armenian duduk in a traditional Indian classical music setting, as a member of India’s living legend, & his teacher, Pndt. Ravi Shankar (Pedro is his only latin-american disciple). For more than 10 years he has been the featured winds soloist with new-age super-star Yanni, and has performed, recorded, &/or toured with many others, like latin-rock super star Shakira, virtuoso composer/flautist James Newton Jr., rock star Don Henley, Persian diva Googoosh, & Latin extraordinary Alex Acuña, among many others.

Pedro recently recorded in Steven Spielberg’s film ‘Munich’ w/film music composer legend, John Williams, in Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” w/James Newton Howard (also in ‘The Interpreter’, ‘The Village’, ‘Hidalgo’), in Warner Bros. “Syriana” w/Alexandre Desplat (& Djivan Gasparian!), as well as in the first Hollywood-Bollywood co-production “Marigold”, w/Graeme Revell. Other film, TV & Video Games soundtrack recordings include: maestro Michel Colombier† (‘Largo Winch’), Danny Elfman (‘The Hulk’), Tim Truman (‘Jeremiah’), Russell Brower (Blizzard Entertainment’s ‘World of Warcraft®’), to name but a few.

He is featured in two songs –including a duet– with the ex-Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, in his latest, fall ’05, “Chaos & Creation in the Backyard” & “Growing Up, Falling Down” single CDs.

With a collection of around 600 instruments from all over the world –many of which have been custom designed & built by him—he holds a unique position in the international performing & recordings studio scenes, being first in demand for many film & TV sound-track composers, solo artists, & producers.

Mr. Eustache’s performances are full of tremendous uplifting synergy, which seem to contrast with the tragedy he & his wife Sara suffered years ago, when loosing their three-year-old daughter -–Ginette Esther— to brain cancer.

Pedro publicly thanks the Almighty for his gifts, & dedicates his art to ‘The One’ Who validates the purpose of his existence: to “The Father of Lights”, source of all creativity, purpose, joy and peace.

Mark Stewart

Multi-Instrumentalist, Musical Director for Paul Simon