Vartan Vahramian
Vartan Vahramian (Persian: وارطان واهرامیان; Armenian: Վարդան Վահրամեան; born 1955) is an Iranian-Armenian composer, artist and painter. He has made musical creations, solo performances as a baritone, and conducted choirs.
Vartan Vahramian | |
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وارطان واهرامیان | |
Born | Vartan Vahramian 1955 (age 67–68) Tabriz, Iran |
Known for | Music, painting, composer, conducting, film |
Movement | Surrealism |
Parent |
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Early life
Vartan Vahramian was born in 1955 in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran.[1] He is the son of artist Grigor Vahramian Gasparbeg; and musician and painter Marousia Vahramian. These two arts of music and painting have manifested themselves equally in his work.[2][3] His father was of Armenian descent.
On the occasion of his birthday, a brief biography of Vartan Vahramian was published by the Ministry of Art, Town Hall, Tabriz; published on 18 November 2018.[4]
Career
Music
Vartan Vahramian has studied harmony under both Iran's and Armenia's maestros. He has 75 musical compositions. Vartan Vahramian has also been the founder and conductor of "Komitas" church choir since 1980. The Komitas Choir have performed at the St. Thaddeus and St. Stephanos Monasteries every year since 1980.[5][6][7][8][9]
In 2000–2001, his Requiem, Oratorio, and Mass, to mark the 1700th anniversary of Christianity as the state religion in Armenia, was performed by Yerevan's "Komitas" conservatory choir. In 2006, he was invited to Armenia, where his "Looys Aravoti" was performed at the "One Nation, One Culture"[10][11] festival to great acclaim. "Looys Aravoti", with words by Vahagn Davtyan and "Jah Haverjakan", with words by Varand, have been composed with great inspiration, emotion and devotion. His Mass in contemporary musical style was performed at the "One Nation, One Culture" in Yerevan in 2010.
In 2006 a short film titled The Lonely Tadeh (about St Taddeus's Monastery in Iran) was directed by Hussein Homayounfar and the music was composed by Vartan Vahramian.[12]
In 2011 a short animated film of St. Stepanos Monastery was made, directed by Reza Shams, for cultural use. The music for this film was composed by Vartan Vahramian. The actual video is on YouTube.[13]
On 13 July 2013, the documentary film Maroosya was premiered in Yerevan, Armenia. It was selected as one of the non-competition documentary films to be shown at The Golden Apricot Armenian Film Festival 2013. The accompanying music for this film is composed by Vartan Vahramian. The film was directed by Navid Mikhak.[14] "Maroosya" was screened in Kazan International Film Festival in September 2014 and at Arpa International Film Festival in November 2014.[15]
On 7 January 2020 a video titled- Tabriz Nostalgia in the Paintings of Maroosya was featured in an online newspaper called Tabriz Emrooz. The music accompanying the 6.05-minute video was composed by Vartan Vahramian.[16]
Vartan Vahramian is an Associate Member of the Guild of International Songwriters and Composers, U.K. He has received an award from Catholicos Garegin I for his cultural work. He lives in Tabriz, where he teaches music and painting and continues to work on both his music and painting.[17][18]
Painting
Vartan Vahramian is also a talented painter known for his Surrealistic style.[19] His oil paintings have been exhibited extensively in various galleries in Iran and have received coverage both in Iranian and foreign newspapers and media.[20][21][22][23]
His well-known works include Miracle, Check Mate, Death of Apollo,[24] Eve Facing the Serpent, Profound Devotion, Belated Love, Identity Crisis, Betrayal and Longing.[25]
A novel titled Speaking Cat by Beverley Coghlan was published in February 2015. All the sketches in this book are entirely Vartan Vahramian's creations.[26]
Film
In 2006, Vartan Vahramian starred in the award-winning film Tabriz: Images from the Forgotten World. The film also featured a soundtrack composed by Vahramian and was the winner of the Best Foreign Short Screenplay from the Moondance International Film Festival in July 2006. A 33 minute documentary on the life and work of Vartan Vahramian was released in 2002. The documentary was in Persian and produced in Iran.[27]
References
- Biography, Interview, Interview from Iran-Newspaper
- Biography, Iranian Painters: Armenian
- Sadegh zadeh, Shahram (2021). "Holding an exhibition of paintings and drawings by the artist's mother and daughter in Tabriz; blooming like an oyster". Asr Azadi (in Persian). Ask Azadi. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- "Stars of Tabriz Art". honar.tabriz.ir (in Persian). Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- "Pilgrimage to St. Thaddeus (Tadeh) Monastery". Armenians Today (Hayern Aysor). Armenians Today Online Newspaper. 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- "Vartan Vahramian: Painter,musician and leader of the church choir of Tabriz". tabrizpedia. tabrizpedia. 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- "Vartan Vahramian: painter, composer, conductor of Tabriz's Church choir". tabrizpedia.info (in Persian). Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- Kumar, T (27 June 2021). "The 26th anniversary of the consecration of the election of Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I was celebrated in the churches of the Armenian Diocese of Atrpatakan". NewsWep. NewsWep. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- Rasaneh, Sirang (2021). "St. Sarkis Church 2021 Tourist Attraction in Tabriz". Iran Tourism and Touring Organization (NGO). ITTO. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- Ter Minasyan, Anush (2002). "Return to the Roots". aravot.am. Aravot Newspaper. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- One Nation, One Culture Report, One Nation, One Culture Report
- "The Lonely Tadeh". Filmio. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- Saint Stepanos Monastery Video, YouTube
- Maroosya, Maroosya
- "Documentary MAROOSYA at 2014 Arpa Festival". 11 September 2014.
- "Tabriz Nostalgia in the Paintings of Maroosya". Namavid.com (in Persian). Tabriz Emrooz. 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- Report masde arte.com, Report from masde arte.com
- "Material support for artists' works should be provided by executive bodies". www.tabrizart.com (in Persian). Tabriz Art. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- "Vartan Vahramian the surrealist painter of Tabriz". tabriz-emrooz.ir (in Persian). Tabriz Emrooz. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- "The paintings of Vartan Vahramian". BBC Persian. 2003. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- Iran-Newspaper Report, Iran-Newspaper Report
- "The Greatest Famous Surrealist Artists". www.ranker.com. Ranker. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- "Presentation of works by 24 prominent painters in Tabriz". www.ettelaat.com (in Persian). Ettelaat. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- Anzabi, Aziz (2016). "Aziz art December 2016". Aziz Art. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- Madani, Shirin (2019). "Vartan Vahramian". My Blue Paints. My Blue Paints. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- Coghlan, Beverley (10 March 2015). Speaking Cat. ISBN 9781326095840.
- "A short documentary on Vartan Vahramian". short movies.ir (in Persian). 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2020.