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Music of Armenia

Georgian three-part polyphony, Armenian duduk and sharakan chant, Azerbaijani mugham, Chechen and Dagestani dance music.

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From Wikipedia

The music of Armenia has its origins in the Armenian highlands, dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE, and is a long-standing musical tradition that encompasses diverse secular and religious, or sacred, music. Folk music was notably collected and transcribed by Komitas Vardapet, a prominent composer and musicologist, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who is also considered the founder of the modern Armenian national school of music. Armenian music has been presented internationally by numerous artists, such as composers Aram Khachaturian, Alexander Arutiunian, Arno Babajanian, Haig Gudenian, and Karen Kavaleryan as well as by traditional performers such as duduk player Djivan Gasparyan.

Music of Armenia on Wikipedia Text under CC BY-SA 4.0

A brief history

Armenian musical instruments: etymological origins

The etymology of Armenian musical instrument names offers insights into the ancient linguistic and cultural exchanges that have shaped the Armenian lexicon. Armenian musical terminology draws from three primary linguistic layers: Native Armenian Origins: Terms of Indo-European heritage or composed in Armenian from 5th–4th millennia BCE. Late Indo-European and Mediterranean/European Substrate: Words adopted from neighboring cultures around the 3rd–2nd millennia BCE. Loanwords from Neighboring Languages: Borrowed from languages such as Caucasian, Anatolian, Hurrian, Urartian, Semitic, and Iranian, dating from the 2nd–1st millennia BCE to the present.

Popular music

Armenian popular songs have been performed by famous Soviet-era performers such as Norayr Mnatsakanyan, Ofelya Hambardzumyan, Varduhi Khachatryan, and Papin Poghosyan. Suzan Yakar and Udi Hrant Kenkulian were famous cabaret performers in Turkey during the 1920s and 1930s. Other representatives of Soviet-era and modern Armenian pop music include Bella Darbinyan, Raisa Mkrtchyan, and the more contemporary vocal performers such as Elvina Makaryan, Erna Yuzbashyan, Nadezhda Sargsyan, Zara Tonikyan, Syuzan Margaryan, and Datevik Hovanesian. Armenian male pop performers include Ruben Hakhverdyan and diasporan artists Adiss Harmandian, Paul Baghdadlian, Manuel Menengichian and Maxim Panossian. Harout Pamboukjian is a widely popular Soviet Armenian-born singer that currently lives in Los Angeles. In the 2000s, pop singers such as Sirusho and André represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest. Other popular pop singers include Hasmik Karapetyan, Arsen Safaryan, and Arsen Grigoryan.

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Playing now

What Armenia is listening to in 2026

This year's hits on YouTube YouTube's trending chart for Armenia 9 radio stations

Articles

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Live radio

Radio from Armenia

Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.

Station directory by Radio Browser Streams come from each station's own server.