Lusine Zakarian

Lusine Zakaryan (Arm: Լուսինե Զաքարյան, born Svetlana Apetovna Zakaryan (June 1, 1937, Akhaltsikhe, Georgian SSR – December 30, 1992, Yerevan, Armenia), was an Armenian operatic soprano. From 1970 to 1983 Zakaryan was a soloist with the symphony orchestra of Armenian TV and Radio. She also sang in the choir of the Armenian Apostolic Church's Holy See at the Echmiadzin Cathedral, and it is for her magnificent renditions of centuries-old Armenian spiritual hymns that she is now most remembered for. Zakaryan grew up in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of southern Georgia. In 1952 she moved with her family to Yerevan, where she attended a secondary music school. She entered the Yerevan State Musical Conservatory in 1957 and her singing talent soon became clear. She began her professional career in 1962, and in a very short time her fame spread and extended outside of Armenia. Soon after she embarked upon international tours that took her to Europe, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay and the Middle East. Lusine's repertoire was extensive; she sang in 15 languages, with a varied and rich selection of works by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Schubert and many other Western composers. Zakaryan was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1972, and her recordings have been included in various music libraries worldwide. Lusine Zakaryan died of severe illness on December 30, 1992 in Yerevan, Armenia. Since the government did not permit her funeral to be performed in Komitas' Park Pantheon, by Catholicos Vazgen I's consent her body was buried in Etchmiadzin's St. Gayane church yard cemetery on January 2, 1993, where the tomb of the magnificent singer is located now. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.