Zara Dolukhanova

Zara Dolukhanova, born 15 March 1918 in Moscow, Russia, was a Russian-Armenian contralto who switched to mezzo‑soprano. She studied violin and piano as a child before studying at the Gnessin Music School from 1934 to 1938 and in Yerevan under Alexander Doluchanian, who later became her spouse. Dolukhanova debuted at the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theater in 1941 and later won first prize at the 1949 World Youth Festival in Budapest. After World War II, she resumed her career in Moscow, made a debut at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1959 and toured the West. In 1965, she switched to the mezzo‑soprano repertoire. Dolukhanova released her album Зара Долуханова (1968). She died 4 December 2007.