About

Nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award and two Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2008, Mariam Matossian is an example of the musical treasures that exist in the world next door. Born and raised in Vancouver, Mariam has been collecting traditional Armenian folk songs and creating her own melodies since she was a child. Most of the traditional songs she sings have been passed down through her family – songs that have been favourites of her grandmother and her mother, and now they have become her own favourites. With over ten years of training in classical voice, Mariam brings the range and control of a classical singer to the spontaneity and passion of the folk tradition and combines the two to produce a synthesis that has earned her rave reviews from everyone who has heard her.

In 1998, she traveled to Armenia, the first member of her family to set foot in the Homeland. She volunteered for an English-language newspaper there and through that work, learned about the plight of the many street children. In 2002, she took a leave of absence from her teaching career to return to Armenia to work with these children. It was during this time that Mariam’s passion for singing met her new commitment to bring attention to contemporary Armenia. When she returned to Vancouver, she continued to perform the songs she had learned from her family and songs she had learned in Armenia, including those taught to her by some of the children she had worked with in Yerevan. Those who heard her sing told her she needed to record.

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Listen

In The Light

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Far From Home

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Photos

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I was enchanted with Mariam's singing. She is indeed a visionary...out of tragedy comes the purity of hope, renewal of faith, and the planting of seeds for future generations to propagate - and cherish - a unique and wonderful culture. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Tim Baiden | Furman University

Matossian’s songs are so tuneful and rhythmically vibrant that it’s impossible to resist their contagious energy and spirit of exhilaration. Paul Hyde | Arts Editor, The Greenville News

Mariam is a truly gifted singer who sings from her heart and inevitably captures her audience. She is one of those rare artists that is able to demonstrate her professional talents while keeping an intimate rapport with her audience. John Berberian | Master Oud Player

Her music feels like an invocation...In The Light is a beautiful, very upbeat album. David Dawes | Canadian Christianity, Vancouver, BC

Mariam's music is truly spectacular in terms of both musicianship and recording quality...her arrangements are masterful and her voice deliciously expressive. Her music captures that bittersweet quality that makes music from the Caucasus, and Armenia in particular, so special. John Uhlemann | Host, Music from the Hills, KDHX Radio, St. Louis, MO

Matossian’s choice of program was a rare fusion of storytelling and vocal artistry that at times sent shivers down your spine...Matossian is a rare, compelling artist who can spellbind any audience. Ann Hicks | The Greenville News

It was a truly magical evening as Mariam Matossian sang songs of her ancestral homeland of Armenia. It was one of those rare performances when the audience became silent at the first sound of her wonderful voice and remained spellbound until the last note. Don Talley | The Black Mountain Music Scene

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