|
Hello. My name is Stepan Frounjian (Fronjian). I was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1951. From my early childhood, I loved music very much. It became a very important part of my life. My family wasn't too wealthy while I was growing up so I couldn't start learning music until I was about 12 years old. I took accordion lessons at the age of 14 from a well-known musician in Lebanon, Mr. Kerop Jabourian. After that, I was on my own, teaching myself how to play the keyboard. At 17, with a few young friends, we formed a band called The Tops which lasted about a year. At 18, with other friends, we formed a band called The Nightingale, which helped me gather more experience. At the age of 20, I was offered a role in the already-famous band in Lebanon, The Five Fingers. I was thrilled to accept their offer and I became their keyboardist for the next 6 years. We recorded our own records and we were quite well-known in the middle-east. We performed all around the middle-east and some parts of Africa. Unfortunately, the Lebanese turmoil caused us to fall apart. After this unfortunate event, my best friend, who was the bass player of the Five Fingers, Mr. Boghos Shahmelikian, and I joined other musicians in being back-up musicians for other singers and performers in Lebanon.
From my very early years, I had the dream of making musical instruments. Since I was so young, I didn't have the requirements and the facilities to make my dreams come true so I left that idea in the back of my mind for many years.
When the situation in Lebanon became more unstable in 1978, I decided to move to America for a better life and to make my dreams come true.
One of my dreams that came true in the U.S. was successfully making musical instruments like the Kanoun and the Oud. You can find pictures of the instruments I made on the "My Pictures" page.
Currently, I live in Wisconsin happily married to my lovely wife Maro with two lovely daughters, Nora and Nina. I still continue my music career by playing keyboards doing one-man band. I also play the saxophone, the flute, the guitar, the bass, the kanoun, and the Armenian authentic instrument, the duduk. I taught myself to play all these instruments.
If there are any people out there that remember me, please don't hesitate to leave a message in my guestbook or email me. I'd really appreciate it because I miss you all.
-Stepan Fronjian
|
|
