Tamar Mardirossian (; born October 28, 1986), known professionally as Tamar Kaprelian, is an American-Armenian singer, songwriter, and philanthropist. Kaprelian began her career in 2008, after winning a cover contest organized by

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado, formed in 2002. The lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, piano), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola), Drew Brown (musician), Drew Brown (guitar), Brent Kutzle ( ...

, performing " Apologize". Following her win,

Ryan Tedder Ryan Benjamin Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, and lead vocalist for the pop rock band OneRepublic, while also serving as a prolific cont ...

introduced her to

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

executives, and she was signed to the label. She went on to release her debut studio album '' Sinner or a Saint'' in 2010 through Interscope. In 2015, Kaprelian was recruited by

Public Television of Armenia Public Television of Armenia (; 1TV), also known as AMPTV or ARMTV, is an Armenian public broadcasting, public television station that began transmissions in 1956. History Early years Armenia Public Television dates back to September 5, 1955, w ...

(ARMTV) to represent Armenia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

as part of the group

Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

with the song "

Face the Shadow "Face the Shadow" (formerly known as "Don't Deny") is a song performed by Armenian supergroup Genealogy. The song is composed by Armen Martirosyan and the lyrics are by Inna Mkrtchyan. The song represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Conte ...

", placing sixteenth. She later attempted to represent Armenia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (E ...

as a solo artist, competing in the Armenian national selection '' Depi Evratesil 2018'' with the song "Poison (Ari Ari)", but was eliminated in the semi-final. Outside of music, Kaprelian has also founded the Nvak Foundation, an organization dedicated to the development of young Armenian singers, songwriters, and musicians.

Early life

Kaprelian was born as Tamar Mardirossian in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

to Avedis and Silva Mardirossian (née Kaprelian). Her parents are both of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

descent, and immigrated to the United States from the United Kingdom. Her great-grandparents were from

Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the western parts of the Armenian highlands located within Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that comprise the historic ...

. She later grew up in the states of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and was raised within the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

Career

2008–2014: Career beginnings and ''Sinner or a Saint''

Kaprelian first began her career in 2008, after winning the " Apologize" cover contest organized by

. Following her win, she was signed to

through the assistance of

. In 2009, she released her debut single " New Day", which peaked at number-37 on the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

. Her debut studio album, '' Sinner or a Saint'', was released the following year through Interscope, and was produced by

Wax Ltd Wax Ltd. is the American multi-platinum production and songwriting duo of Wally Gagel and Xandy Barry. Collectively and individually they have worked with a wide variety of artists including Zella Day, Blondfire, Family of the Year, Miley Cyrus ...

. She released her debut extended play ''California'' in June 2012.

2015–present: Eurovision attempts and career in Armenia

In 2015, Kaprelian was selected by the Armenian broadcaster

(ARMTV) to become the American representative in the Armenian supergroup

, along with French-Armenian singer

Essaï Altounian Essaï Altounian (; born November 5, 1980), sometimes credited as simply Essaï, is a French-Armenian artist. Biography Essaï Altounian was born on November 5, 1980, in Paris, France. His grandparents escaped from Kharpet during the Armenian ...

, Ethiopian-Armenian singer Vahe Tilbian, Japanese-Armenian singer Stephanie Topalian, Australian-Armenian singer Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian, and Armenian singer

Inga Arshakyan Inga and Anush Ashoti Arshakyan () or the Arshakyan Sisters () are an Armenian folk singing duo. The sisters represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, eventually finishing in 10th place in the final. Early life Anush was born on ...

. The group performed their song "

" during the first semi-final of the

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and qualified to the final. They later went on to place sixteenth in the final, and disbanded shortly after the contest. After the contest, Kaprelian released the single "The Otherside", which featured guest vocals from

Elhaida Dani Elhaida Dani (; born 17 February 1993) is an Albanian singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Shkodër, Dani performed in diverse singing competitions and started to play piano as a child. She rose to national recognition in the Albanian-speaking ...

Elina Born Elina Born (born 29 June 1994) is an Estonian singer. She represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Stig Rästa with the song " Goodbye to Yesterday". She previously attempted to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song ...

Maria-Elena Kyriakou Maria Elena Kyriakou (, ; born 11 January 1984) is a Greek Cypriots, Greek-Cypriot singer best known for winning the The Voice of Greece (season 1), first season of ''The Voice of Greece'' under the mentorship of Despina Vandi. She Greece in the ...

, and Topalian, all of whom also competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. 20150515 ESC 2015 Genealogy 6295

In February 2017, Kaprelian released a cover of the Armenian folk song "Sareri hovin mernem" with Armenian social entrepreneur and occasional singer

Larisa Hovannisian Larisa Virginia Hovannisian (née Ryan; Armenian: Լարիսա Վիրջինիա Հովհաննիսյան; born 21 October 1988) is an Armenian-American social entrepreneur. She founded Teach For Armenia, a non-profit organization dedicated to ad ...

. The song was produced by

DerHova Harout Arthur Der-Hovagimian (sometimes spelled "Ter-Hovakimyan"; born 22 February 1974) is a Canadian composer, songwriter and record producer. Early life Harout Arthur Der-Hovagimian was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Armenian parents fr ...

and

Ben Moody Benjamin Moody (born January 22, 1981) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is known as co-founder of rock band Evanescence, which he departed in 2003 after the release of their debut album '' Fallen'' (2003). After leav ...

. She later released a cover of another Armenian folk song, "Noubari boye", in October 2017. In 2018, Kaprelian announced her participation in '' Depi Evratesil 2018'', the Armenian national selection for the

with the song "Poison (Ari Ari)". The song is written by Kaprelian,

Sebu Simonian Sebu Simonian (born October 15, 1978; ) is an Armenian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, one-half of the Los Angeles-based indie pop duo Capital Cities (band), Capital Cities. Early life Simonian was born in 1978 in Ale ...

, and students from her organization the Nvak Foundation. The artistic stage presentation will be organized by Arthur Gurunlian. The song was released on January 15, 2018. She competed in the first semi-final on February 19, 2018, but did not advance to the final. She co-wrote

Rosa Linn Roza Kostandyan (; born 20 May 2000), known professionally as Rosa Linn (), is an Armenian singer-songwriter. She started her career getting signed by Nvak Collective and releasing her debut single "King" with Kiiara in 2021. In 2022, Linn in ...

's song "

Snap Snap or SNAP may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Snap'' (film), the initial release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind'' * '' The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carolina, US * "Snap" (''Duty Free'') ...

" which represented

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

, where it finished in 20th place. "Snap" went viral on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

after the contest and entered numerous countries' national charts.

Philanthropy

In 2016, Kaprelian launched the Nvak Foundation, an organization based in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

that is dedicated to fostering musical talent in young Armenian singers, songwriters, and musicians. The organization planned on expanding to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in September 2018.

Personal life

Kaprelian became a citizen of Armenia on 28 April 2015 after being given an

Armenian passport The Armenian passport () is a passport issued to Armenian citizens to enable them to travel outside Armenia, and entitles the bearer to the protection of Armenia's consular officials overseas. Armenian citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan (, ; born 30 June 1954)Official biography of Serzh Sargsyan

. In May 2016, she graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

with a degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

. Kaprelian married American entrepreneur Chris Stang in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

in October 2016.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaprelian, Tamar 1986 births American women pop singers American women songwriters American people of Armenian descent American pop rock singers American women philanthropists Armenian Apostolic Christians 21st-century Armenian women singers Armenian pop singers Armenian women pop singers Armenian songwriters Women songwriters Columbia College (New York) alumni Ethnic Armenian philanthropists Interscope Records artists Living people Musicians from Scottsdale, Arizona Philanthropists from Arizona Philanthropists from California Philanthropists from Georgia (U.S. state) Singers from Arizona Singers from California Singers from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Genealogy (band) members Naturalized citizens of Armenia English-language singers from Armenia Armenian pianists Armenian women pianists Rock musicians from Arizona