TEHRAN -- Opera singer Evelyn Baghcheban, widow of Iranian composer Samin Baghcheban, died in Istanbul on Sunday October 31. She was 82.

Samin Baghcheban died on the last day of winter 2008 in Turkey, where he had resided for many years.
Evelyn met Samin at the Ankara State Conservatory where they got married and later traveled to Iran. Evelyn established the first technical course on singing at the Tehran Music School.
Deceased tenor singer Mohammad Nuri, and vocalists Pari Zanganeh and Sudabeh Tajbakhsh are among her students. Evelyn also launched the Tehran National Choir during the early years of living in Tehran.
She is considered as one of the pioneers of Iranian opera. She also helped launch Rudaki Hall in Tehran along with musicians Monireh Vakili, Heshmat Sanjari, Fakhereh Saba and several others.
Mezzo-soprano Evelyn has also performed in the album “Rangin Kamun” (The Rainbow) which contained songs and compositions by her husband Samin.
The Baghcheban family spent the last years of their lives in Turkey. Evelyn was teaching piano at the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts and retired several years ago.
“Turkey is my country and I grew up like a tree in Turkey but I was fertilized in Iran and that is why I like both countries and regard both as my homelands,” she had once declared.