Career
Badalyan"s parents were from the Armenian village of Gardabad near the city of Urmia, and they became refugees when the Turkish army invaded northwestern Iran. Hovhannes attended the local Armenian school in Baghdad, and in 1936 he returned to Iran where he started singing in Nicol Galanderian’s choir. In Tehran, he studied and performed with Hambartzoom Grigorian and Karl Kulger.
At the age of 22, Badalian left for Armenia, where he attended the Romanos Melikian Music College.
In 1948, he joined the Folk Music Instruments Ensemble of the Armenian Radio as a soloist. Badalyan performed on many world stages from the Middle East to Europe, Australia, Canada, United States and Soviet Union.
