Ruben matevosyan arman hovhannisyan biography

“Odar Aperoom…” (on foreign shores)

The following is a column I've submitted to Asbarez newspaper. An Armenian tale...

On Sunday morning, my sister-in-law called and said she had one extra ticket for Ruben Matevosyan’s sold out concert at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium that evening. I told her that I could use the ticket.

It’s fair to say that Maestro (as they call him) Ruben Matevosyan has been one of the most popular and respected folklore singers of Armenia for the last four decades.  Recently, he was in the news when on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Republic of Armenia's independence he, alongside of the legendary singer Ofelia Hambardzumyan, received the “Sourp Mesrob Mashtots” medal for his exceeding merit and great service to Armenian song and culture.

Thinking back to my childhood, I remember that before Matevosyan, Hovannes Badalyan was the star folksinger.

We Iranian-Armenians especially liked Badalya