Lévon Sayan or Levon Sanosyan (, born 17 December 1934) is a French-

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n impresario and producer, as well as an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Biography

Lévon Sayan was born in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, France, in a family of

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

survivors from

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

, who tried to emigrate to the U.S. He served in the French army in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

. In 1956 he moved to the US, where worked as the President of the New York Association of VIP hairdressing. He started a career as a classical singer in 1966. Sayan recorded his first disc with Renée Doria. As a tenor, he sang in "

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

", "

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

", "

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

" and other operas. He has also been the impresario of

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

and Mario del Monaco, and one of Charles Aznavour's impresario (1981-2014). Sayan is an officer of the "

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

". He is one of the founders (among with charles Aznavour) of the charitable organization ''Aznavour for Armenia''. In 1989 he visited Armenia for the first time. In 2008 Aznavour and Sayan were granted Armenian citizenship by the President of Armenia. On 23 May 2003, during a special reception the president of

Robert Kocharyan Robert Sedraki Kocharyan ( ; born 31 August 1954) is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 to 1994. He served as the second Presiden ...

, honored him with the

Khorenatsi medal The Movses Khorenatsi Medal () is Armenia's highest cultural award. It is presented by the president of Armenia to people who have significantly contributed to the advancement of Culture of Armenia, Armenian culture. Artist Richard Jeranian receiv ...

. In 2006 he received the "Special Prize" of the Armenian National Music Award. In 2009 Armenian President

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan (, ; born 30 June 1954)Official biography of Serzh Sargsyan

signed a decree on awarding Lévon Sayan with the Order of Honor. Sayan was condemned by Charles Aznavour for depositing the brand "Aznavour pour l'Arménie" and was fined by the French courts.

References

External links

Charles Aznavour's official site

Lévon Sayan, Le Parisien, 2006
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sayan, Levon 1934 births Living people Musicians from Aix-en-Provence French people of Armenian descent French operatic tenors French impresarios Officers of the Legion of Honour

Biography

See also

References

External links