Born in Moscow, Parisian since 1996, flutist by training (1st Prize at the CRR of Saint-Maur), the lyrical singer Mariam Sarkissian graduated in classical singing from Schola Cantorum (with Anna Maria Bondi) and Ecole Normale de Musique of Paris (Master Concetist with Daniel Ottevaere).

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A prizewinner in national and international competitions, she has performed as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Oreste in Offenbach's La Belle Hélène, the title role in Mascagni's Zanetto, has appeared under the conducting of Dominique Rouits, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Benjamin Pionnier, Philip Walsh, Jean-Louis Petit, Balázs Máté, Iñaki Encina Oyon, Alexandre Brussilovsky, Alexandre Rudin, Florin Totan...

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Mariam Sarkissian has developed a particular approach to research and discovery of rare, new or unjustly forgotten vocal chamber music repertoire. She has recorded several world premieres for international labels such as Brilliant Classics, Suoni e Colori, Hungaroton Classic and Megadisc Classics, participated in the revival of the salon tradition and performed in concerts in Europe, the United States and Israel.

 

Her chamber music activity was regularly acclaimed by critics. She received in 2015 a Golden Orpheus of the French Académie du Disque Lyrique for her CD « Tristesse des choses » (Sadness of it all), composed of French art songs by César Cui and Piotr Tchaikovsky.

 

Thanks to a unique experience of post-traumatic self-rehabilitation following a serious car accident, Mariam has created a new vocal technique cognitive teaching method: the Sarkissian Method®. Based on an original concept called the Balance Triangle®, inspired by the teaching of the Belcanto tradition (Lamperti, Everardi, Garcia), the method is intended to train or re-educate the expression tool of singers and speakers of all levels, styles and ages, both amateurs and professionals. Mariam Sarkissian's book I Think, Therefore I Sing or The Praise of Cognitive Belcanto, including the description of her method and her work with opera singers (soloists and choristers, amateurs and professionals, beginners and advanced, in career and rehabilitation) was published in 2018, was reedited in 2024 and is currently available on the Sarkissian Method's website in French and English.

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In 2019-2020, Mariam Sarkissian is invited to teach singing and vocal technique at the Maison d'Education de la Légion d'Honneur in Saint-Denis. Her book I think, therefore I sing is distributed to the twenty-four students of her individual and collective classes and serves as a workbook for this academic year.

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In 2024, Mariam Sarkissian joined the Music, Neuroscience and Therapy network of Sorbonne University's Collegium Musicae, where she presented her method at the first inaugural meeting.

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Currently, Mariam Sarkissian teaches singing and vocal technique and trains teachers in his method at the Atelier Sarkissian (Paris) and in masterclasses.

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