Armenian melodies combined with jazz

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Lena Chamamyan, Syrian singer will be on stage with pianist Tuluğ Tırpan.

One of the most important artists of Syria, singer Lena Chamamyan, will host pianist Tuluğ Tırpan and one of the best cellists in Turkey, Özer Arkun, as well as renowned kanun player Göksel Baktagir. The concert will be at Yıldız Palace at 9:30 p.m.

Chamamyan, who combines jazz and classical Armenian music, was born in Damascus, where over the course of her elementary and secondary education she participated in many school concerts, the first of which she held at age of 5. She started to studying music at the age of 9 and graduated from the economics management department at Damascus University in 2002. She studied at the higher institution of music in Damascus and graduated as a classical vocalist in 2007.

She also joined jazz workshops. This resulted in the two being featured on each other’s albums and many concerts in Syria and Germany. She also worked with many vocalists and musicians of different nationalities in many jazz festivals in Syria.

The idea of the project was born before Chamamyan started to study music academically. Classical was mixed with oriental jazz and Armenian music to reflect the unique essence of her style as a vocalist. She was charmed from the very beginning by the idea of mixing simple oriental tunes with cords. Many friends from the higher institution of music helped her understand and conceptualize the project, the first of whom was Basel Rajoub, who arranged the music and managed the project.

July/18/2013