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The Armenian-born contralto, Seda Amir-Karayan, sang as a 6-year-old girl sang in the children's choir “Arevik” as a soloist, with appearances on radio and television. At the State Music Academy after Komitas in Yerevan, she first studied jazz singing with Professor Robert Amirkhanyan, the most important Armenian song composer. Since 2000 she has performed with him as one of the most famous interpreters of his music in many countries around the world. As part of this, the CD “The Voice of Armenia” was recorded in Germany. She has also made a name for herself as a soloist in Armenian sacred music, especially with the famous Geghard Ensemble for female voices. In 2005, she began studying musicology at the Yerevan University of Music with Professor Mher Navoyan, with a focus on Armenian-Medieval Church Music, which she completed in June 2011 with a master's thesis on the "Decline of Armenian Hymnography from XIII. to XV. Century". During her academic career she discovered her great love for classical European music, especially for the German Lied. The association for the promotion of cultural relations between Germany and Armenia (NOAH e.V.) enabled an academic training in concert singing with a focus on oratorio and Lied. Her master's degree at the Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart with Professor Ulrike Sonntag was awarded with distinction (October 2011-July 2013). During her studies, she won 1st prize at the Podium Junger Gesangssolisten in Zwickau. In recognition of her special achievements and talent, she was awarded a Germany Scholarship and was supported by the Gerhard Trede Stiftung. She took part in master-classes by Helen Donath, Malcolm Walker, Margreet Honig, Brigitte Fassbaender and Lioba Braun.
Seda Amir-Karayan is now a sought-after concert alto. She sang concerts at the Berliner Philharmonie (J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium (BWV 248) and Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244); George Frideric Handel's Messiah, etc.), at the Musikfest Stuttgart and the Rheingau Musikfestival (Felix Mendelssohn's Paulus), as well as at the Kölner Philharmonie (J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion (BWV 245), Johannes Brahms' Alt-Rhapsodie, Max Reger's Requiem, Szymanowsky's Stabat Mater, Tippetts A Child of our Time, etc.). At the Konzerthaus Berlin she could be heard with W.A. Mozart's Requiem and L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and as part of the Bachwoche Stuttgart 2016 with J.S. Bach's B minor Mass (BWV 232). She worked with Helmuth Rilling, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Kay Johannsen, Achim Zimmermann, Etta Hilsberg, Horst Meinardus, Bernhard Gärtner and other well-known conductors.
In March 2012, Seda Amir-Karayan was the soloist of Misa Tango in several performances in Argentina with Martin Palmeri on the piano. In July 2012 she took over the big solo part in the world premiere of the oratorio Seven Songs About Love and Peace by Robert Amirkhanyan in the Heidenheim Congress Center, followed by the Armenian world premiere with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra in Yerevan in May 2013. In summer 2016 she sang with Ars Antiqua Austria, conducted by Jürgen Essl, performed the alto solo for the first recording of Isfried Kayser's Alma Redemptoris Mater. She currently lives in Stuttgart, Germany |
