Arto Tunçboyacıyan is a Grammy Award winning American musician of Armenian-Anatolian descent, a vocalist, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, playing everything from an empty bottle and his bare chest to a bucket filled with water. Arto’s dedication to his craft and unlimited ways in his way of sounds has earned him admirers all over the world.
Arto was born in Turkey. Since childhood, music has been Arto's fundamental element of life. He started his musical career at the age of 11, playing and recording traditional Anatolian music with his greatest influence and mentor – his brother, and other great legendary musicians, thus establishing himself as a professional musician throughout Turkey. He appeared on more than 200 records in Europe before arriving to the United States at the age of 24. In the US he went to work with numerous jazz legends such as Joe Zawinul, Chet Baker and “Oregon” and performed and recorded with many great musicians, including Paul Winter and “System of a Down”. In 1998, he founded “Armenian Navy Band” and created a new expression – the Avant-Garde Folk music, which means ”extending your imagination with your experiences without losing the flavor of your identity”. In 2011, Arto won a Grammy award for his contributing compositions to the album “Miho: Journey to the Mountain” performed by the Paul Winter Consort. He says: “Music is the time of my life. I don’t give direction to anybody. I let you imagine for yourself, but what I try to give you is Love, Respect, Truth. I believe this is the simplest form of wealth in this world for the path to trust and this is what we need.”