Hasmik Papian (; born 2 September 1961) is an Armenian soprano. She was awarded the People's Artist of Armenia title in 2004. Papian was named a Cultural ambassador of Armenia in the World for her contributions to Armenian culture in 2005 by the Catholicos of the Holy See of St. Echmiadzin and All Armenians Karekin II and awarded the Order of Saint Sahag and Saint Mesrob and Order of Saint Mesrop Mashtots. " Biography Hasmik Papian was born in Yerevan, Armenia (then part of the Soviet Union) on 2 September 1961. She first began an interest in music when she started playing the violin at the age of 5. Papian graduated from Komitas High Academy in Yerevan first as a violinist, then as a singer. Her friends had encouraged her to explore her voice, and Tatevik Sazandaryan, the head of the vocal department at Komitas, had told Papian after hearing a couple of notes from her that she had to sing. After her debut at the Armenian National Opera, she was invited as a soloist among others by Opera Bonn and Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf, Germany. Soon, she started an international career and has since appeared at numerous theaters, including the most prestigious operatic stages and concert houses in the world like The Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall in New York, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, La Scala of Milan, Opéra Bastille in Paris, Gran Theatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, London Wigmore Hall, the Vienna State Opera and Musikverein Vienna, Concertgebouw and De Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, Zurich Opera, Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg, as well as the state operas of Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Dresden and Berlin. Papian attributes her big break to winning the Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna in 1990. One of the prizes of the Belvedere competition was to sing from her repertoire at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. She had included Norma in her stock of plays, though hadn't expected to sing it due to her youth and inexperience. Papian accepted a last-minute offer to sing Norma at the Teatr Wielki, although she had never sung the opera live before, and prepared in five days’ notice, two brief rehearsal days, and a single orchestra rehearsal. Norma would later become her signature role. Papian sang Norma for the first time on in Warsaw in 1993, where Giancarlo del Monaco, son of Mario Del Monaco, caught