Artashes Avetyan ( hy, Արտաշես Ավետյան;

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: آرتاشس آودیان; born 14 August 1942) mostly known as Artoush is an

Iranian Armenian Iranian-Armenians ( hy, իրանահայեր ''iranahayer''), also known as Persian-Armenians ( hy, պարսկահայեր ''parskahayer''), are Iranians of Armenian ethnicity who may speak Armenian as their first language. Estimates of thei ...

singer and musician.

Biography

Avetyan was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. At a young age, he played football and played in Tehran's Taj Team (now known as

Esteghlal F.C. Esteghlal Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال استقلال, ''Bâšgâh-è Futbâl-è Esteqlâl''), commonly known as Esteghlal ( fa, استقلال, meaning 'The Independence'), is an Iranian football club based in capital Tehran th ...

). At the age of 14, he learned to play the guitar, with the help of German musician Erwin More. During his school years, he often toured Iranian cities playing in a musical band. His song teacher, Aram Sargsyan, was a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

, who sang with the famous Russian bass-singer Feodor Chaliapin. In 1963, his family moved to

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

, in Soviet Armenia. For 23 years, he was a soloist with the Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra of Armenia under direction of Melik Mavisakalyan. For 5 years, he was with the State Variety Orchestra of Armenia, conducted by

People's Artist of the Soviet Union People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

and the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

- Konstantin Orbelyan. Avetyan had recorded around 250 songs, which included: Sirun Aghchik Hayastani (Beautiful Armenian Girl); Ov Sirun Sirun (Oh Beautiful Beautiful); Yeh Negah (One Look) and Yerevan. Not only did he sing in Armenian, but also sang in Russian and Persian. He was married to Armenian singer Lola Khomyants. The couple would sing duets together before their divorce in 1990. Later in the same year, Avetyan moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where he would perform in clubs. He also engaged in book publishing with his second wife Zhuliet Gevorgyan. These books were used in Armenian schools.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avetyan, Artashes 1942 births Living people Iranian composers Iranian guitarists Singers from Tehran Iranian pop singers 20th-century singers Iranian male singers Persian-language singers Iranian emigrants to Armenia 20th-century Iranian male singers Iranian people of Armenian descent Iranian emigrants to the Soviet Union Iranian expatriates in the United States