Arsen Romanovich Mirzoyan (; born 20 May 1978), is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter. He was declared "

Merited Artist of Ukraine Honored Artist of Ukraine (; also translated as Honored (Performing) Artist of Ukraine or Merited (Performing) Artist of Ukraine) is a state honorary title of decoration of the Ukrainian government. Originally awarded by the Ukrainian SSR, the ...

" in 2020 and awarded the "

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

, 3rd class" in 2022.

Biography

Arsen Mirzoyan was born of Armenian descent in

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in 1978 and graduated from school in 1995. During his years in school, he also took part in concerts and wrote poems, some of which were later used in his songs. However, he had no formal musical education, and he went on to qualify as a

non-ferrous metal In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron ( allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable pro ...

lurgy engineer from the Engineering Institute of Zaporizhzhia National University. He then worked in Zaporizhzhia, first for aircraft engine manufacturer

Motor Sich The Motor Sich, Joint Stock Company () is a Ukrainian aircraft engine manufacturer headquartered in Zaporizhzhia. The company manufactures engines for airplanes and helicopters as well as industrial marine gas turbines and installations. Ov ...

and then in the machine shop of steel maker Zaporizhstal, where he worked for twelve years as site foreman.

Musical career

In 1998, his friends invited him to join their rock band, and this evolved into the band "Totem", whose composition was somewhat fluid. Out of this, Mirzoyan established a band called "Baburka", which performed at festivals such as "Pearls of the Season" and " Chervona Ruta", where he met Alexander Polozhinsky, leader of the band " Tartak". Polozhinsky hosted a TV programme on the TNT-Russia channel called ''Fresh Blood'' which featured new young talents, and he invited "Baburka" to take part. In 2000, Mirzoyan became deaf in his left ear, and in 2004 he became completely deaf. It was only after doctors used prosthetics to regain some hearing that his musical career could continue. In 2008 he performed with the " Tartak" band at the festival "Tavria Games" at the invitation of Polozhinsky. In the same year, he reached the final of "Laughter without Rules" on the TNT-Russia channel and gained sixth place. 2011 was an important year for Mirzoyan. He took part in the vocal TV competition '' Holos Krainy'' (''Voice of the Country'') on Ukrainian TV channel " 1+1", as a springboard for his musical career. He gained fourth place, and also became friends with one of the other finalists, Antonina Matvienko, daughter of Ukrainian singer Nina Matviienko. After the semi-finals, he signed a 5-year contract with Universal Music regarding the song "Night". Then on 30 November his debut album "Ґудзики" (''Buttons'') was released, with ten solo songs plus an additional track "Івана Купала" ("Ivan Kupala") performed as a duet with Antonina Matvienko. This was followed in 2013 by the album "Незручні ліжка" (''Uncomfortable Beds'') under producer Vitaly Telezin. Further albums were released in subsequent years, and in 2016 he released a compilation album of his most popular songs, simply titled ''Arsen Mirzoyan''. In 2017, he took part in the Ukrainian national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

and reached the semi-finals with the song "Geraldina", which he wrote together with Paul Manondiz, dedicated to

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress whose long career has included multilingual roles in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German films. Geraldine is a daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of his eigh ...

, daughter of the silent film actor

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

. In the same year, he released the album "Слова і Ноти" (''Words and Notes''). In 2018, he undertook a tribute tour for

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (25 January 193825 July 1980) was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor who had an immense and enduring effect on Soviet culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which ...

(1938–1980), an influential Soviet singer-songwriter, poet and actor who would have been 80 that year. Mirzoyan says he started learning Vysotsky songs at the age of five. Two more albums followed: "Інгредієнт" (''Ingredient'') in 2019 and "Монархія" (''Monarchy'') in 2021, which included a duet with his 5-year-old daughter Nina. In 2020 he was declared "

" and then in 2022 he was awarded the "

, 3rd class" in 2022. After the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

in February 2022, Mirzoyan wrote his song "My Country" during military service in the battle for Kyiv, encouraging people to stay in Ukraine and fight back. He said, "'My Country' is about my decision to stay and fight. I wanted to strengthen the feelings for those who hesitated to remain or flee. I wanted to support those who decided to stay in Kyiv." Mirzoyan works with the Zaporuka Charitable Foundation, and while humanitarian aid is being unloaded he gives impromptu concerts for the troops. On 24 August 2022, the

Independence Day of Ukraine Independence Day of Ukraine (, ) is a public holidays in Ukraine, state holiday in Ukraine, celebrated on 24 August in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, Declaration of Independence of 1991. History When Ukraine was st ...

, Mirzoyan together with his wife and their daughter Nina took part in a special online concert on the EU Delegation to Ukraine's Facebook page.

Discography – albums

*2011 – "Ґудзики" (''Buttons'') *2013 – "Незручні ліжка" (''Uncomfortable Beds'') *2015 – "Ніч" (''Night'') *2016 – "Паперовий сніг" (''Paper Snow'') *2017 – "Слова і Ноти" (''Words and Notes'') *2019 – "Інгредієнт" (''Ingredient'') *2021 – "Монархія" (''Monarchy'')

Personal

Mirzoyan has two sons, Vlad and Artem, with his first wife Anna. However, he became friends with Antonina Matvienko at '' Holos Krainy'' in 2011, and the relationship developed such that he filed for divorce from Anna at the end of 2013. Mirzoyan and Matvienko had a daughter Nina (born 15 January 2016) and were married on 15 June 2017. He maintains a warm relationship with his sons.

References

External links

YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirzoyan, Arsen Romanovich Ukrainian pop singers Ukrainian male singer-songwriters Recipients of the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class People from Zaporizhzhia Ukrainian people of Armenian descent 1978 births Living people