Tamar Mardirossian ( hy, Թամար Մարտիրոսեան; born October 28, 1986), known professionally as Tamar Kaprelian, is an

Armenian-American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in ...

singer, songwriter, and philanthropist. Kaprelian began her career in 2008, after winning a cover contest organized by

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellis ...

, performing " Apologize". Following her win,

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

introduced her to

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

executives, and she was signed to the label. She went on to release her debut studio album ''

Sinner or a Saint ''Sinner or a Saint'' is the first studio album by Armenian American singer-songwriter Tamar Kaprelian, it was released on August 24, 2010. Promotion The first single "New Day" was available for download on iTunes on May 29, 2009. Then it wa ...

'' in 2010 through Interscope. In 2015, Kaprelian was recruited by Public Television of Armenia (ARMTV) to represent

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

as part of the group

Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

with the song "

Face the Shadow "Face the Shadow" (formerly known as "Don't Deny") is a song performed by Armenian Supergroup (music), supergroup Genealogy (band), Genealogy. The song is composed by Armen Martirosyan (musician), Armen Martirosyan and the lyrics are by Inna Mkrt ...

", placing sixteenth. She later attempted to represent Armenia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broa ...

as a solo artist, competing in the Armenian national selection '' Depi Evratesil 2018'' with the song "Poison (Ari Ari)", but was eliminated in the semi-final. Outside of music, Kaprelian has also founded the Nvak Foundation, an organization dedicated to the development of young Armenian singers, songwriters, and musicians.

Early life

Kaprelian was born as Tamar Mardirossian in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

to Avedis and Silva Mardirossian (née Kaprelian). Her parents are both 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 ...

descent, and immigrated to the United States from the United Kingdom. Her great-grandparents were from

Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that are part of the historical homeland of the Armenians. Weste ...

. She later grew up in the states of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and was raised within the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

Career

2008–2014: Career beginnings and ''Sinner or a Saint''

Kaprelian first began her career in 2008, after winning the " Apologize" cover contest organized by

. Following her win, she was signed to

through the assistance of

. In 2009, she released her debut single " New Day", which peaked at number-37 on the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

. Her debut studio album, ''

'', was released the following year through Interscope, and was produced by

Wax Ltd Wax Ltd. is the American multi-platinum production and songwriting duo of Wally Gagel and Xandy Barry. Collectively and individually they have worked with a wide variety of artists including Zella Day, Blondfire, Family of the Year, Miley Cyrus, ...

. She released her debut extended play ''California'' in June 2012.

2015–present: Eurovision attempts and career in Armenia

In 2015, Kaprelian was selected by the Armenian broadcaster Public Television of Armenia (ARMTV) to become the American representative in the Armenian

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

, along with French-Armenian singer

Essaï Altounian Essaï Altounian ( hy, Եսայի Ալթունյան, in Western Armenian ) born on 5 November 1980), sometimes credited as simply Essaï, is a French-Armenian singer, songwriter, keyboardist, music producer and an actor. Biography Essaï Alt ...

, Ethiopian-Armenian singer

Vahe Tilbian Vahe Tilbian ( hy, Վահե Թիլբյան, Western Armenian Վահէ Թիլպեան, am, ቫሔ ቲልቢያን; born 17 February 1980) is an Ethiopian singer of Armenian descent. A solo artist, he became lead singer for the Ethiopian group Ze ...

, Japanese-Armenian singer Stephanie Topalian, Australian-Armenian singer Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian, and Armenian singer

Inga Arshakyan Inga and Anush Arshakyan ( hy, Ինգա և Անուշ Արշակյաններ) or the Arshakyan Sisters ( hy, Արշակյան քույրեր) are an Armenian folk singing duo. The sisters represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, ...

. The group performed their song "

" during the first semi-final of the

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, and qualified to the final. They later went on to place sixteenth in the final, and disbanded shortly after the contest. After the contest, Kaprelian released the single "The Otherside", which featured guest vocals from

Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer, songwriter, composer and actress. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition i ...

Elina Born Elina Born (born 29 June 1994) is an Estonian singer. She represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Stig Rästa with the song " Goodbye to Yesterday". She previously attempted to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song ...

, Maria-Elena Kyriakou, and Topalian, all of whom also competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. 20150515 ESC 2015 Genealogy 6295

In February 2017, Kaprelian released a cover of the Armenian folk song "Sareri hovin mernem" with Armenian social entrepreneur and occasional singer Larisa Hovannisian. The song was produced by

DerHova Harout Arthur Der-Hovagimian (sometimes spelled "Ter-Hovakimyan"; born 22 February 1974) is a Canadian-Armenian composer, songwriter and record producer. Career Harout Arthur Der-Hovagimian signed his first recording contract at the age of 17 wit ...

and

Ben Moody Benjamin Robert Moody II (born January 22, 1981) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as co-founder, former guitarist and co-songwriter of rock band Evanescence from its inception in 1995 to his departure in ...

. She later released a cover of another Armenian folk song, "Noubari boye", in October 2017. In 2018, Kaprelian announced her participation in '' Depi Evratesil 2018'', the Armenian national selection for the

with the song "Poison (Ari Ari)". The song is written by Kaprelian,

Sebu Simonian Sebu Simonian (born October 15, 1978; hy, Սեպուհ Սիմոնեան) is an Armenian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, one-half of the Los Angeles-based indie pop duo Capital Cities. Early life Simonian was born in ...

, and students from her organization the Nvak Foundation. The artistic stage presentation will be organized by Arthur Gurunlian. The song was released on January 15, 2018. She competed in the first semi-final on February 19, 2018, but did not advance to the final. She co-wrote

Rosa Linn Roza Kostandyan ( hy, Ռոզա Կոստանդյան; born 20 May 2000), known professionally as Rosa Linn ( hy, Ռոզա Լին, links=no), is an Armenian singer-songwriter. She started her career by getting signed by Nvak Collective and releasi ...

's song "

Snap Snap or SNAP may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Snap'', the original release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind'' *''Snap'' (TV series), a CITV programme * ''The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carol ...

" which represented

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

, where it finished in 20th place. "Snap" went viral on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

after the contest and entered numerous countries' national charts.

Philanthropy

In 2016, Kaprelian launched the Nvak Foundation, an organization based in

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 ...

that is dedicated to fostering musical talent in young Armenian singers, songwriters, and musicians. The organization planned on expanding to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in September 2018.

Personal life

Kaprelian became a citizen of Armenia on 28 April 2015 after being given an

Armenian passport Armenian passport ( hy, Հայկական անձնագիր, Haykakan andznagir) is a passport issued to Armenian citizens to enable them to travel outside Armenia, and entitles the bearer to the protection of Armenia's consular officials oversea ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan ( hy, Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, ; born 30 June 1954)Of ...

. In May 2016, she graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with a degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. Kaprelian married American entrepreneur Chris Stang in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

in October 2016.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Facebook pageTwitter pageInstagram pageYouTube channel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaprelian, Tamar 1986 births American women pop singers American women songwriters American people of Armenian descent American pop rock singers American women philanthropists Armenian Apostolic Christians 21st-century Armenian women singers Armenian pop singers Armenian songwriters Columbia College (New York) alumni Ethnic Armenian philanthropists Interscope Records artists Living people Musicians from Scottsdale, Arizona Citizens of Armenia through descent Philanthropists from Arizona Philanthropists from California Philanthropists from Georgia (U.S. state) Singers from Arizona Singers from California Singers from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Genealogy (band) members