Seta Hagopian ( ar, سيتا هاكوبيان; born July 28, 1950, in

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

) is an Iraqi singer of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

origin. Her singing career began in 1968 which led to much success for she is known to be the "Warm voice of Iraq" and has been dubbed as Iraq's

Fairouz Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...

Early career

Born in

, to a family of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Iraqi Armenians Iraqi Armenians ( ar, أرمنيون عراقيون ''’Armanion Iraqion''; Armenian: իրաքահայեր ''irakahayer'') are Iraqi citizens and residents of Armenian ethnicity. Many Armenians settled in Iraq after fleeing the 1915 Armenian gen ...

. Her father was a tennis player who represented Iraq in numerous tournaments. Soon after Hagopian's career had begun, she was working with the most prominent composers such as Tariq al-Shibli, Farouk Hilal Khammash,

Elias Rahbani Elias Hanna Al Rahbani ( ar, إلياس حنا الرحباني; 26 June 1938 – 4 January 2021) was a Lebanese musician, composer, songwriter, orchestra conductor, and reality television personality, sitting as judge on a number of talent sho ...

and Ahmed Qasim. Hagopian's style of music was one of the first to renew Iraqi songs through the introduction of Western instruments along with singing contemporary pop music. She has held concerts across the entire

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

, including

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

as well as across Europe in Uzbekistan, Russia, Germany,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

and Spain. Hagopian left Iraq to settle in

in 1997. She currently resides in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

- Canada.

Personal life

She is married to director Emad Bahjat; they both live together in Qatar. Hagopian is mother to two daughters, NovaIraqi Canadian singer-songwriter Nova Emad on her debut album
The National and Naire.

Nova Emad A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

is a singer who currently resides in Canada and is following in her mother's footsteps in renewing the classical Iraqi music by infusing it with new genres, like hip hop/trance and Bossa-Nova. Naire is an editor, director and a photographer.

References

External links

Official Website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikipe ...

Seta Hagopian
at Facebook

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagopian, Seta 1950 births People from Basra Living people Iraqi people of Armenian descent Iraqi Christians 20th-century Iraqi women singers