27 Facts About Lena Chamamyan

Lena Chamamyan is a Syrian-Armenian singer-songwriter, known for her soprano voice and unique style, which fuses jazz, Arabic folk music and Western classical music.

Lena Chamamyan's paternal great-grandfather, Sarkis Chamamyan, was a calligrapher, originally from Marash, Cilicia.

Lena Chamamyan has said that his education and skills saved him and his family during the Armenian genocide, as the Ottoman army made use of his skills to write military communiques and his life was spared.

Lena Chamamyan's grandfather, Hovhannes Chamamyan, worked as a tailor in Aleppo and was a member of the Syrian Communist Party.

Lena Chamamyan's possessions were confiscated and he spent many years in prison.

The couple married in 1977 and Lena Chamamyan was born a few years later, in 1980.

Lena Chamamyan grew up with her identity split between her father's and her mother's community.

Lena Chamamyan is multilingual and speaks four languages fluently: Arabic, Armenian, English and French.

Lena Chamamyan began studying basic music theory and solfege at the age of nine.

Lena Chamamyan owes much of her early musical education and experience to her maternal grandmother and to her father.

Lena Chamamyan's grandmother introduced her to classical singing and traditional Armenian music, while her father, a saxophonist, shared with her his love for the Armenian language and its music.

This, Lena Chamamyan has stated, led her to search for new ways to express herself, which led her back to the world of music.

Lena Chamamyan took part in a singing competition at the French Cultural Institute in Damascus, following which someone suggested that she study at the Conservatory for Music in Damascus.

Lena Chamamyan entered the High Institute of Music in Damascus and studied classical singing and classical piano.

Lena Chamamyan has stated that she would have preferred to study jazz, but there was no such option at the conservatory.

Lena Chamamyan stood out as a lyric soprano, a rare voice type in the Arab world.

In 2011, following the eruption of the Syrian Civil War, Lena Chamamyan relocated to Paris, where she currently lives and creates her music.

Lena Chamamyan's music continued to take inspiration from folk music and especially from her Syrian-Armenian roots.

Lena Chamamyan has performed throughout Europe and the Middle East, from London to Geneva and from Cairo to Beirut, even performing in the Gulf countries and Turkey.

Lena Chamamyan's fourth album, LAWNAN, came out in 2016, born out of a three-year collaboration with Turkish composer and kanun player Goksel Baktagir.

Lena Chamamyan has been active with Syrian refugees in Germany and has been vocal in her support for them.

Lena Chamamyan's music is known for its fusion of Arabic and Armenian folk songs together with Western classical music and modern styles, such as jazz.

Lena Chamamyan has stated in interviews that the multilingual nature of her music is significant and important to her, and she hopes to perform in more languages in the future, such as English, French or Greek.

Lena Chamamyan remains close to her Armenian roots, both cultural and musical, and includes an Armenian folk song in each of her albums and concerts.

Lena Chamamyan is known for her style of combining folkloric music with modern styles and arrangements, crossing genres and creating a new fusion of both the traditional and the new.

Lena Chamamyan has stated that she keeps an open mind when it comes to musical style.

Lena Chamamyan sees music as a universal language and takes inspiration from all sorts of musical genres, including the Portuguese Fado and the Spanish-Andalusian Flamenco.