Zulal, which means “clear water,” is an Armenian a cappella performance and recording trio comprised of Teni Apelian, Yeraz Markarian, and Anaïs Tekerian. The trio rearranges and reimagines traditional Armenian folk melodies and has brought the beauty of Armenian folk music to venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the MET and Yerevan’s Komitas Chamber Music House. Zulal also creates soundtracks for film and theater and offers educational workshops for young audiences.
Teni Apelian's love for Armenian folk music has guided her musical explorations. Her love for the a cappella genre began at Carnegie Mellon where she sang in the school’s Jazz Choir and earned a Masters in Arts Management. A trip to Armenia in 2000 eventually led her to the members of Zulal in a most circuitous way. In addition to arranging, recording and performing with Zulal, Teni enjoys teaching Armenian folk music in the classroom setting. Zulal has brought life and breath to Teni’s foremost passion and she considers herself lucky to share the creative process with two friends who are now truly sisters.
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Anaïs Alexandra Tekerian, originally from San Francisco, discovered her joy of folk when she was a member and then director of the Yale Slavic chorus. A singer and theater artist now living in New York, she has performed in many plays and has written three works for the stage. Her most recent play, Lost Spring, co-created with artist Kevork Mourad, premiered (in French) at the Mucem in Marseille and at the Morgenland Festival in Germany in 2015. Celebrating her Armenian heritage through song with Zulal is a constant source of joy and inspiration.
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Yeraz Markarian was first introduced to a cappella at Barnard College at Columbia University where she began singing as a "bass". A native New Yorker, she has a background in marketing and a PhD in clinical psychology. Yeraz's passion for Armenian folk music began at an early age, when she performed with the Hamazkayin's Armenian Children's Choir of New York at Lincoln Center at the age of six. Yeraz is proud to take part in discovering, arranging and performing Armenian folk music, and is overjoyed that what began as an innocent conversation among friends has led to the creation of Zulal.
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Download the Zulal press kit
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