Five Georgian Bands Bringing Traditional Polyphony into the Pop Music Age

Georgian polyphonic singing, added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, is a musical technique in which a single song has several melodies, each sung concurrently, with no one tune dominating the others. In Georgia, the style varies by region, but the practice reflects both military, folk, and religious culture. […]

Essaï Altounian / Եսայի Ալթունյան

An Armenian singer, actor, and keyboardist, Essaï Altounian (Եսայի Ալթունյան) is most famous artist as a French popstar. He sings mostly in French, but also has released hits in English and, of course, Armenian. Altounian was born 1980 in Paris, France. The son of Armenian parents, Altounian was greatly influenced by the stories of his […]

Mihran Tsarukyan / Միհրան Ծառուկյան

Mihran Tsarukyan (Միհրան Ծառուկյան) was born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1987. He is a well-known pop artist and actor. His Facebook page has nearly 40,000 followers and his official YouTube channel has just over 40,000 subscribers. Much of his fame comes from his roles as a main cast member on the show Hard Life (Դժվար […]

Iveta Mukuchyan / Իվետա Մուկուչյան

Iveta Mukuchyan (Իվետա Մուկուչյան) was born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1986. She grew up in Hamburg, Germany where her family moved in 1992. At the age of 23, she returned to Armenia to audition for the popular television show Hay Superstar (the Armenian version of American Idol). Although she was eliminated in the semi-finals and […]

Sirusho / Սիրուշո

Siranush Harutyunyan (Սիրանուշ Հարությունյան) was born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1987 into a family of entertainers. Professionally, she goes by a shortened version of her first name, Sirusho (Սիրուշո). Both Sirusho’s parents hold the title of Honored Artist of Armenia – her mother was one of Armenia’s most popular singers in the 1980s and 1990s, […]

Lilit Hovhannisyan / Լիլիթ Հովհաննիսյան

Lilit Hovhannisyan (Լիլիթ Հովհաննիսյան) was born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1987. As a child, she wanted to be a fashion designer, but when a relative heard her voice, they urged her parents to enroll her in vocal lessons, and later she attended a special music-focused high school in Yerevan. Lilit began her public career on […]