Friends of the Library Open House Event

Ara Topauzian is an Armenian-American musician whose proficiency at the Kanun (Middle Eastern Harp) has made him a nationally-recognized artist. 

He has proformed in concert, at music festivals and many celebrated venues across the United States, with the tip musicians in Middle Eastern music.  Topauzian's traditional musical style keeps to his Armenian heritage but has expanded to include music from around the Middle East, as well as jazz, fusion, new age and blues.

The recipient of numerous awards, Ara Topouzian's music has been heard and sold around the globe.  In 2012 Topouzian became an Kresge Artist Fellowship, awared by: Kresge Arts of Detroit, a program of the Kresge Foundation.

This program is partially funded by the Cadillac Arts Council.

Ara Topouzian was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1969 and always listened to a variety of music as a child, especially traditional Armenian and Middle Eastern music.  His first experience preforming live with a band took place at the age of 10 when he played the def (tambourine) with an Armenian band.  During his school years, he played cornet, but it wasn't until toward the end of college that he became more interested in and involved with performing traditional Armenian and Middle Eastern music.  Ara first started playing hand percussion instruments such as dumbeg (hour-glass shaped hand drum) and def with local Armenian bands.  This is where he first learned to play the kanun ( a 76-stringed laptop harp).  This eventually led to Ara performing as a both a solo and ensemble musician eith Armenian and Middle Eastern artists throughout the United States.