Ladaniva is a duo consisting of Armenian singer Jaklin Baghdasaryan and French multi-instrumentalist Louis Thomas. The name of the group comes from Lada Niva, an off-road vehicle. Jaklin was born in Yeghegnadzor in southern Armenia in 1997. She grew up in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, before moving to France with her mother in 2014. Louis was born in Lille in northern France to a family of musicians. Both of them enrolled in the Conservatoire de Lille. They met during a jam session in 2018 and decided to form Ladaniva in 2019. Ladaniva’s repertoire is inspired by, on one hand, traditional songs from Armenia, Russia and the Balkans, and on the other hand, influences from their trips in Latin America, Africa and Reunion Island.
Jaklin Baghdasaryan was into classical music and later got deeper into jazz music. She has been part of several bands in France and has participated in different music festivals. After her meeting with French trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist Louis Thomas, they have founded the Ladaniva band which immediately became famous in Armenia after the release of the video Vay Aman which went viral had in no time more than 2 million views.
Louis Thomas is coming from a family of musicians, he began to play trumpet at the age of 7. After a jazz course at the conservatory, he traveled with his instruments around Africa and Latin America and got introduced to other musical genres through meetings with traditional musicians. He performed alongside many artists of all genres; jazz, rap, pop and traditional folk music.
Ladaniva released their first single “Vay Aman” (Oh my love) in 2020. This was quickly followed by “Kef Chilini” (There won’t be fun). Both songs went viral, especially within Armenian communities. In 2023, they released their self-titled debut album. Ladaniva was internally selected to represent Armenia at Eurovision 2024. The song that Ladaniva performed in Malmö is called “Jako”. It was written and composed by both band members. They scored a Top 10 result in the Grand Final, finishing eighth.
