Composer: Khachik Yeghoyan
Arrangement & mix: Vahan Nahapetyan
Recording: Hmayak Rostomyan (Ardini Studio)

Western Armenia - Miqayel Voskanyan

Miqayel Voskanyan is an Armenian tar prodigy, musician, composer, songwriter, and producer known for pushing the boundaries of traditional Armenian music. 

He began singing folk music at age three, and began playing the tar at age nine while attending a musical school in Yerevan. Voskanyan studied music for seven years and was trained in the style of classical Armenian music, Middle Eastern and Eastern melodies, as well as traditional folk. He was part of the Children’s Philharmonic Orchestra of Yerevan from the ages of 1996 to 2002, where it became evident that Voskanyan’s true life calling was music.

Voskanyan was part of the Armenian State Orchestra of National Instruments for over a decade starting in 2004, where he began experimenting with the traditional Armenian instrument.
 He graduated from Yerevan State University in 2008, with a degree in Art History, while simultaneously attending special music courses at the Yerevan State Conservatory. During his time spent studying music theory and influenced heavily by jazz and world music, Voskanyan began improvising on the centuries-old tar.

 A lover of musical experimentation, Voskanyan refused to allow the conventions of Armenian folk music to limit and control his music. 

He formed MVF Band in 2011, an instrumental folk-jazz band that consisted of four other talented musician friends. Voskanyan composed the majority of MVF Band’s original music, and produced the two albums that the band released. MVF Band’s music-fusing sound gained critical acclaim, both in Armenian and international music circles. 

Voskanyan’s musical talent and ability is evident in the variety of genres he has collaborated in, performing and recording with musicians from the worlds of folk, jazz, classical, experimental, electronic, world, pop, and rock. In 2015, he performed his original composition “Lusine” with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra in Paris, France, at the historic UNESCO Heritage. That same year, Voskanyan was invited to perform at the Moscow International Performing Arts Center.

In 2017, Voskanyan founded Oberton Music Company and Oberton Records independent label, a collective committed to the idea that music carries the ability to revive and revitalize people. 
He held a solo concert in Paris at the Luxor Palais du cinema in 2018. 
Later that year, Voskanyan was invited to perform and give a workshop at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival dedicated to Armenian art and music in Washington, D.C.

He has traveled to concerts and participated in projects in Sweden, Italy, France, Finland, Germany, China, Jordan, South Korea, Croatia, Poland, Georgia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, the UAE, Canada, and America. 

#MiqayelVoskanyan