Raffi

Born in Cairo, Egypt to a well-known portrait photographer, Raffi Cavoukian moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada with his family at the age of 10. Named after the American poet of the same name, Raffi developed an interest in pursuing music in the style of Dylan and Joni Mitchell and began visiting a local guitar store Millwheel to connect with other musicians. The singer-songwriter subsequently enrolled at the University of Toronto, where he also ran a coffee house, and developed his skills as a musician and performer. Before graduating Raffi dropped out of university and hitchhiked to Vancouver in 1972 to make a name for himself.

Raffi returned to Toronto a few years later after being invited to perform at a public school. The show turned out to be an immediate success and Raffi had found the audience to which his music brought the most joy and reward. The singer subsequently produced a tape of children songs which garnered lots of attention from local schools, and resulted in Raffi going to the bank to request a loan to record a full-length album. The fruit of Raffi’s basement recording sessions was his debut album “Singable Songs for the Very Young” in 1976. The following year the singer issued the adult-oriented album “Love Light”, after which Raffi focused all of his attention on children’s music, with a string of album releases including “More Singable Songs”, “Corner Grocery Store”, and “Rise and Shine”.

For his work with children, the musician received the Order of Canada award in 1983 and continued to release a succession of children’s themed albums before taking a year off in 1989. When Raffi returned, his focus had switched to environmental conservation, showcased on the 1990 album “Evergreen Everblue”. The singer-songwriter regularly tours with his backing band the Rise and Shine band, and remains true to his non-commercial ideology, reluctant to charge more than $8.50 a ticket. Raffi has subsequently released a generous collection of albums across the ‘90s and into the new millennium, endearing him to the hearts of children and adults alike, and selling over eight million records worldwide.