Born in Armenia and at first trained as a violinist, the soprano Hasmik Papian studied singing at the Yerevan Conservatory. She was a winner in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition and was equally successful in Toulouse, at the Vienna Belvedere Competition and in 1992 in Sofia. She made her operatic début as Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème in Yerevan, where she also sang the rôles of Rosina and Micaela. In 1992 she undertook at short notice the rôle of Norma in Warsaw, where she also sang Salome, Aida, Abigail, Mimi, Tosca, Micaela and Violetta. Further guest performances have followed throughout Europe as well as in the United States of America, including the rôle of Abigail at La Scala, Milan, and Tosca at the Vienna State Opera.