Berge Turabian was born in Cairo, Egypt, on February 7, 1950. He first attended the Mkhitarian School in Cairo, and then continued his education in French, at Collège des Frères. He has been surrounded by music from a very early age.
I was seven when during family gatherings I began to sing Armenian songs, even the complex romance, “The little Boy Saw a Rose” with my grandfather, Sahag Turabian, who would accompany me on piano or violin. He was a real artist – he played several instruments, wrote poetry, and was also a skilled craftsman.
One day, excited by my musical skills he offered me a violin, which never came out of its case. My parents wanted me to take piano lessons, like my brother did, but unfortunately that didn’t work either. But as for the singing, it was very influential and at twelve I sang in a band, “The Sky Devils”, performing international songs in Armenian and foreign community clubs. A memorable event took place when I was thirteen years old and I entered a contest where I was supposed to sing Charles Azanavour’s “La Mamma”, which was a new hit.
For some mischief, I was punished that day and confined to the house. One of the organizers, a charming woman, kept calling my mother imploring her to let me go to the contest. My mother finally consented, but on one condition – she was to take me there and immediately bring me back after my performance. The next morning my mother told me that I'd won First Prize. Even to this day remembering that event encourages me. Afterward I even tried to write songs.
At the age of fifteen, Berge repatriated to Soviet Armenia with his family. He graduated from the State University of Armenia – where he later taught French language and literature. A student in humanities, immersed in the world of literature and languages, he began to write lyrics for his songs and in the late 1960s, was among the wave of chansonniers emerging in Armenia.
Berge Turabian is a self-taught singer/songwriter. In his multifaceted songs, the text predominates with intense images, play of language, wit and sensory evocations. His first CD, produced in 1999, "Somewhere & Someday" contained songs in which the lyrics and music were written by him. Subsequently he has produced four other CDs in the series “The Armenian Poets in Songs”: “Charents – the Armenian Poet in Songs,” “Hayeren” (poetry of Western and Eastern Armenian poets), “Your Name” (the poetry of Vahan Tekeyan), and “Bird Soul” (the poetry of Armenian cotemporary poets from Istanbul: Ikna Sariaslan, Zareh Khrakhuni and Zahrad).
He has had concerts in Yerevan, in different cities of the United States and Canada, and in Paris.