Arto Tunçboyacıyan
Arto Tunchboyachyan (Armenian: Արտո Թունջբոյաջյան; Western Armenian: Արթօ Թունճպոյաճեան, romanized: Art'ō T'unjpoyajean; born August 4, 1957[1]) is an Armenian American[2][3] avant-garde folk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer of Armenian descent.[4][5][6] He fronts his own group called the Armenian Navy Band, and is also a member of the instrumental quartet Night Ark.
Arto TunchboyachyanԱրթօ Թունճպոյաճեան
Arto Tunchboyachyan
4 August 1957
Singer, musician, songwriter
Vocals, percussion, duduk, sazabo, bular
1968–present
naregatsi.org/Artoistan (archived)
Tunchboyachyan had appeared on more than 200 records in Europe before arriving in the United States, where he went on to work with numerous jazz musicians including Chet Baker, Marc Johnson, Al Di Meola, and Joe Zawinul, as well as performing semi-regularly with Paul Winter and the Earth Band. He has worked with Turkish singer Sezen Aksu and the Greek singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki. Tunchboyachyan's elder brother Onno Tunchboyanchyan was also a musician, and they have collaborated on several occasions.
Early life[edit]
Arto Tunçboyacıyan was born in Istanbul, Turkey[7] His father was a shoemaker of Armenian descent.
At the age of 11, he began his career playing and recording traditional Anatolian music with various musicians, including his brother Onno Tunç, thus establishing himself as a professional musician throughout Turkey and Europe.
In 1981, Tunçboyacıyan moved to the United States and settled in New York.[8]