Susanna Tchoubarian may have checked your coat on Monte Carlo Night at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco last month. But according to some people at the JCC, she doesn’t belong in a checkroom
They say the wide-eyed, Armenian diva belongs on center stage.
And many from the Jewish and emigre communities have taken a keen interest in making sure she gets there, even though Tchoubarian, herself, is not a Jew.
It’s not that the 28-year-old Tchoubarian needs much help. With a powerful singing voice that the JCC emigre department head Barbara Litt describes as “unexpected, from such a slender person,” Tchoubarian would have no problem carving out a successful U.S. career on her own.
But “she’s just such a charming, warm, gifted individual,” said Tchoubarian’s personal representative Yvonne Walter, that “people can’t help but take a protective interest and assist in furthering her career.”
A lyric coloratura soprano, Tchoubarian particularly enjoys such roles as Violetta in “La Traviata,” Musetta in “La Boheme” and Tatiana in “Eugene Onegin.”
Her most recent singing performance, with piano accompaniment by emigre Ella Belilovskaya, took place at the JCC last month and attracted a crowd of 300 people.
It was the Armenian opera singer’s talent that first earned her an invitation to the United States. The San Francisco Opera’s general director, Lotfi Mansouri, asked her to audition for the lead in his upcoming Armenian opera, “Arshak II,” last April.
She did not get the part, but in October she went on to become one of three regional finalists winners in the Metropolitan Opera auditions, held at San Francisco’s Herbst Theater.
Tchoubarian, who was born in Ukraine of Armenian parents, began singing professionally at the age of 14. She grew up in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. She described her singing experience in the competition as inhaling “fresh air or like having a drink when one is very thirsty.”
“I missed singing professionally since I came from Rostav,” said Tchoubarian, who received a certificate and a monetary award from the opera company. “I want to sing professionally in the United States so this was very encouraging for me.”
Tchoubarian just received other encouraging news. Last week, she found out that she won a major grant from the Arpa Foundation for Film Music and Art. She will be honored at a banquet March 30 in Glendale. The grant will be utilized for coaching in major roles she wishes to undertake, mainly Mozart and the bel canto repertoire by Bellini and Donizetti.
Mansouri, the Met and the Arpa Foundation, however, would never have known of Tchoubarian, or her talent, if it had not been for some behind-the-scenes work by the San Francisco Jewish community, initiated by Walter.
Walter, a board member of WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization) and past president of Hadassah, played a key role in bringing Tchoubarian from Rostov to the United States. She has since supported Tchoubarian with everything she might need: food, shelter, clothing, lessons, transportation and even musical scores and opera tickets.
Meanwhile, others in the Jewish emigre community have helped Tchoubarian as well. For instance, Russian-born dentist Tanya Manyak donated her time free of charge to remedy some of Tchoubarian’s dental problems. Others have provided vocal coaching and accompaniment.
“When my family came to the United States [in 1990] the Jewish community helped us a lot,” said Manyak, who is Jewish. “In a sense, I was trying to giving back to the community that helped us so tremendously.”
Giving back involved helping others in need, regardless of their religion. “I know Susanna is not Jewish,” Manyak added, “but the Jewish community here helps people in general — not just Jews — that’s the wonderful part about it.”
Tchoubarian has become a well-known face at the JCC emigre program, taking several ESL classes and performing for other immigrants at birthday parties, programs and concerts.
Litt describes Tchoubarian’s relationship with the emigre program as one of mutual appreciation. The emigre center is “a place she calls home,” said Litt, adding, “actually, she’s given us more than we’ve given her. She’s provided a lot of spark to our program.”
Besides, moving to another country is tough, and Tchoubarian “does not have a support system here,” Litt added. “She’s a very talented, very lovely, very charming woman who is all alone in this country,” she said. “It would be absurd for us not to help her.”
Walter had first come across Tchoubarian while on a cruise in Russia in 1998. Tchoubarian, who had joined the Rostov Lyric Opera after her graduation from the Rachmaninoff Conservatory, had taken a summer job performing on the cruise ship.
Walter, immediately enchanted by Tchoubarian’s singing and expressive ability, was determined to help the young woman forge a successful career. She brought video footage of Tchoubarian’s performance to Mansouri, who then invited her to audition.
After extending her tourist visa twice, she finally received an O-1 visa, granted to immigrants with an extraordinary ability in the arts, Walter said.
Discussing Tchoubarian’s decision to stay and audition in the United States, Walter said: “In Russia it’s difficult to have an international career. You’re stuck in one opera house all of your life. In the United States, you can go from opera house to opera house, all over the world.”
While Tchoubarian said she misses her family, parents and a 19-year-old brother, she said they have supported her decision to stay in the United States. She has since been auditioning for opera companies all over the country, including Los Angeles and Phoenix, and hopes to get the news that will whisk her away from her “long, long vacation from professional singing,” within the next couple of months.
“Soon,” Litt said, “we’ll be able to say, ‘We knew Susanna when…'”