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Aramo and Emma Petrosyan, a musical love story

The talented duo share their music, their life, and their passion

by Maria Titizian

Published: Friday December 04, 2009

Artur Khachatryan

Yerevan - It's fair to say that Armenia's music industry has all kinds of musicians representing a diversity of genres from rap to folk to techno.

While many new acts have burst onto the music scene and then quietly disappeared, only a handful of artists have steadfastly remained true to their artistic expression, to themselves and to their fan base.

Aramo (Aram Gevorgyan) and Emma Petrosyan are both classically trained musicians and talented in their own right; as a couple they finish each other's sentences, complete each other's thoughts and together make beautiful music.

They are articulate, intense, and passionate, not only about their own music, but about their family, the music industry and the future of the country.

Emma is a gifted violinist born in Yerevan who first appeared on stage in 1990. She was classically trained and says that her musical education served her well, especially when she decided to pursue a vocal career. Her melodies are complex and lyrics are poetic, some might say exquisitely beautiful.

"I love the arts in all its expressions," she says. "I can't describe the genre that I am in - it is neither pop nor classical; it's really a synthesis of the two."

While some singers have been swayed by trends, Emma has remained true to herself, to who she is as a musician and she credits her training for this adamant adherence. "I have remained true to my musical roots, to my inner voice, to my ears and as a musician trained classically in the violin, I can say that at some point, I decided to be singer," she explains. "I appear on stage with those songs that are my feelings and impressions, my world view, my inner world, and the colors of the world as I see it."

Today, Emma writes most of her music and lyrics although she also performs songs by other artists such as Robert Amirkhanian, Jivan Kasparian, Arno Babajanyan, Arthur Grigoryan, and younger songwriters like Marina Gulumian.

In 1989, Emma met Aramo and three years later they got married, had a son Avik, and embarked upon a life together that has seen many twists and turns.

Aramo, who initially trained as an actor, is famous for his sketching and improvisation and his artistic flexibility. They each have solo careers but also perform and record together as a duo. They both feel that the music industry in Armenia lacks the quality and professionalism it once boasted. Aramo stresses that the reason is a lack of training and musical schooling.

Before elaborating what he means by a lack of schooling, Aramo abruptly makes a statement: "I am kizh (crazy). I am a healthy kizh, a kind kizh. I consider myself to be kizh. Many times I feel like I am going to explode but then that kind, easy kizh calms down." While trying to understand his outburst, Aramo goes on to say that the problem with current musicians is a lack of professional schooling and training.

"I studied at the school of dramatic arts where I studied under Khoren Abrahamian," Aramo says. While at the school he also studied cinema and before that had seven years of primary musical training. "My second school was with Constantin Orbelian's Jazz Orchestra; it was a very big school for me," Aramo explains. "This new generation hasn't gone through that kind of schooling."

Aramo and Emma acknowledge that there were great performers who paved the way for them. Artists like Elvina Magaryan, Tatevik Yuzbashian, Bella Tarpinian, Ruben Matevossian and Raisa Mgrchyan and others.

While acknowledging the severe limitations they had to endure behind the Iron Curtain, training and education not only in music and theater but in the sciences and humanities was something that Armenian society benefited from.

"After the earthquake, which was catastrophic for the Armenian nation - we lost so many talented people and I don't even want to talk about 1915 - came the collapse of the Soviet Union," Aramo says. "Then in 1991 we became independent and had our own coat-of-arms, flag, national anthem with our borders and then came the victory in Artsakh, our ancestral lands...Artsakh was never occupied, it was always ours and will always remain ours."

And then came the dark and cold years. "Everything disappeared, theater, music. What we take on this journey is what we have learned and we carry that with us," Aramo continued. "We were blessed but the new generation suffered as a result of all this. There is why there is such a lack of professionalism today."

The definition of show business

Show business is exactly that, business. "It's artificial, it's simply a way to sell your product," he says."I have never been in this so-called show business and will never be there, ever."

This husband-and-wife team also acknowledge that today there are those who use props to make up for a lack of talent and training. "People have to depend on their clothes, their hairstyle, make-up, backup singers and dancers and huge orchestras to cover up for the deficit of talent," they claim. "And then they bring out dancers in Kurdish clothes claiming to be Armenian. I love Armenian folk and traditional songs but they are distorting them," Aramo says emphatically.

"I don't even know if there is a desire to get that schooling. Let's not even talk about the lyrics, because these days everybody is a songwriter," Aramo explains. "And all these love songs with lyrics like ‘I didn't taste your lips, now I will go throw myself off a bridge!'"

And what is to become of the music business?

"I am one of those who is responsible for this state of affairs; we shouldn't have let all this mediocrity seep in, we should've made sure to keep the quality," Aramo says. They stress that there are only a handful of people in the music industry today who are real artists. Emma says that everyone has to understand the genre that they belong in. "I love Armenian folk music, I cherish it, I dance to it, my eyes water to it, but I don't give myself the right to sing it, because my strengths are in other mediums," interjects Aramo. "These days everybody thinks they're a singer."