Her Story:
Tamar Kaprelian is an Armenian-American singer and songwriter currently residing in New York City. Born in Scottsdale, Arizona and brought up in both Georgia and California by Armenian parents, Tamar was constantly surrounded by love and great music. Her passion for classic songwriting began when she discovered the works of Billy Joel and Paul McCartney at a young age. At age fourteen, Tamar began writing her own material and taught herself to play the piano without any formal training.
Through an inspiring story of discovery, Tamar competed in an online contest run by the band One Republic in March of 2008. Through YouTube, the contest aimed to choose the best cover of the band’s hit song "Apologize.” Tamar's version was chosen as the winner and she was soon offered a recording contract by Interscope Records. Her debut album, "Sinner Or A Saint," was released in August, 2010, and features the Wax Ltd-produced hit song, "New Day." “New Day” was featured in various television programming, including the fifth season finale of the hit MTV series “The Hills” as well as "American Idol" and "90210."
Tamar's sophomore project, an EP titled “California,” was released on June 19, 2012. Co-written by producers Xandy Barry and Wally Gagel, “California” was one of the first projects released from Universal’s Killer Tracks Artist Series. The Killer Tracks Artist Series is an innovative and non-traditional platform created to help artists reach new audiences and explore new revenue opportunities.
In 2014, Tamar returned back to the studio with producer Ryan Perez-Daple to complete her second EP through Killer Tracks. The EP, titled "Yours to Keep," features three new original songs as well as covers of "Summer, Highland Falls" and "Don't Ask Me Why" by Billy Joel.
Tamar proudly represented Armenia in Vienna at the 60th Eurovision Song Contest, along with five other talented international artists, all with Armenian backgrounds. The group successfully made it to the finals round in this prestigious competition show.
After Eurovision, Tamar founded Nvak, a music education program that focuses on finding and developing young musical talent in Armenia, providing students with training, resources, and community that they would not otherwise have access to.
In February 2018, she will compete on Depi Evratesil, Armenian Public Television's qualifiying show for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. Her submission, "Poison (Ari Ari)" was written by Tamar, Sebu Simonian (Capital Cities), Derhova, and two songwriters from her Nvak nonprofit, Sanahin Papazian, Yana Karapetyan, and Ovsanna Khoublaryan Her goal with this project and throughout the competition is to showcase the immense amount of talent that Armenia has to offer the world.