On Andr Araj

Born in Bucharest. At the age of three he moved to Armenia, but in 1949 he and his family were exiled to the Altai Krai. Thanks to His Holiness Vazgen I, Catholicos of All Armenians, they returned from exile 9 years later. From 1966 he sang in the Etchmiadzin spiritual choir. From 1968 he was an artist of the A. Ter-Hovhannisyan Choir led by the choral conductor Emma Tsaturyan. In 1971 he graduated from the R. Melikyan Music College in Yerevan, and in 1978 from the vocal department of the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, in the class of Tamar Melik-Shahnazaryan. In 1977-85 he worked as a soloist at the opera studio attached to the conservatory. In 1969-2011 he worked as a soloist at the A. Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Yerevan. He toured in a number of countries. For four years he taught at the conservatory of Ecuador. Since 1990 he has taught at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory (professor since 1995). He has been awarded numerous medals and certificates of honour. In 1997 he received the Gohar Gasparyan Medal of the Union of Theatre Workers of Armenia, in 2003 the title of Honored Artist of Armenia, and in 2011 the gold medal of the Ministry of Culture of the RA.