Categories: People

Lévon Sayan – French-Armenian Operatic Tenor

Lévon Sayan is a French-Armenian impresario, producer, and an operatic tenor. He was born in Marseilles into a family of Armenian immigrants and Armenian Genocide survivors.

Sayan began his career as a classical singer in 1966. Soon, he recorded his first CD with Renée Doria. As a tenor, he sang in “Faust”, “Rigoletto”, “Carmen”, and many other operas.

In 1956, Sayan moved to the US. There, he met French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour during his concert tour in 1963. 2 years later, Sayan became the director of Aznavour’s concert programs, as well as his permanent impresario. Sayan accompanied Aznavour on most of his overseas tours.

Aside from Charles Aznavour, Sayan was also the manager of Mario del Monaco, Plácido Domingo, Liza Minelli, and Frank Sinatra. In 2006, Sayan received the “Special Prize” of the Armenian National Music Award.

Among his other orders and awards are the French Legion of Honor and Armenia’s Movses Khorenatsi Medal (2008). Lévon Sayan also was bestowed upon an Honorary Citizenship of the Republic of Armenia in 2008.

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

The Vilgort Cup: A Silver Masterpiece of Cilician Armenia (c. 1150–1159 A.D.)

A Fragment That Traveled Across Continents The gilt-silver medallion shown above — two richly dressed…

10 hours ago

Hannibal and Artaxias the Great: The Carthaginian General Who Helped Build the “Armenian Carthage”

Few episodes in ancient Armenian history capture the imagination quite like the tradition that Hannibal…

6 days ago

The Priestess of the Kingdom of Van: A 9th-Century BC Bronze Figurine in the British Museum

Five angles of one small bronze figure — and what emerges is not an abstract…

2 weeks ago

The Winged Sun and the Armenian Tiara: Royal Symbolism of the Orontid (Yervanduni) Kingdom of Commagene, 163 BC – 72 AD

Introduction Among the successor states that emerged from the fragmentation of the Achaemenid-derived Orontid (Armenian:…

2 weeks ago

A Bronze Age Vessel from Gardman: Solar Symbolism, the Sun-Cross, and the Sacred Landscape of Ancient Armenia

Article based on the explanations and interpretive observations of Angela Terian, with additional archaeological and…

3 weeks ago

Rewriting the Caucasus: A Documented Look at Azerbaijan’s Historical Revisionism Regarding Armenia

Lenin: Soviet nationalities policy, Azerbaijan SSR founded 1920, Stalin: Constitution and census fix the ethnonym…

3 weeks ago