Irina Eduardovna Manukian was born in 1948 in Moscow. Father - Manukian Eduard Migranovich, worked with Korolev, launched the first satellite of the Earth, for which he was awarded the Lenin Prize. Her mother - Revekka Davydovna Leites - worked almost all her life as a lecturer at the National Distance Learning Institute of Telecommunication, and was the head of the department.

At the age of two, the girl discovered that she had an absolute musical ear. One day, her parents heard the child humming ‘As you were, so you remain || Steppe eagle, kazap [Cossack] dashing...’ while playing. She sang the long, complex melody with perfect clarity.

‘I can say that I had an instinctive urge to compose before I learnt the basics of musical literacy. At the age of seven, I had already learnt how to write down notes correctly... Already at the age of nine I firmly decided for myself that I wanted to become a composer... I had no hesitation in choosing my profession’ I.M., autobiography

In 1956, little Irina, having passed a tough competitive selection process, entered one of the best music schools in Moscow - the Gnessins seven-year music school. At the same school, the remarkable composer and teacher T.B. Nazarova-Metner taught an elective composition class.

‘Tatiana Borisovna's [Nazarova-Metner] lessons always had a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, the most difficult concepts were presented in an accessible form, there was no violence, no coercion - only friendly advice based on a deep knowledge of the laws of musical art.’ I.M., autobiography

In 1964, Irina entered the Gnessin College, first at the theoretical-composer's department and then at the piano department in the class of E. A. Weinstein, who was a pupil of K. N. Igumnov. Irina had physical data unfavourable for a professional pianist: small stature, dainty hands. 
In addition, incorrect hand posture prevented her from developing. Esfir Aronovna forbade her to play at all. For a whole year she liberated her hands, taught her the Igumnov touch on the keys. Irina always repeated that she owed a lot to Esfir Aronovna and proudly replied to compliments about her playing style: ‘I have the Igumnov school!’.

In the summer of 1968, she entered the composition faculty of the Moscow State Conservatory with S. A. Balasanian. The basic principles that S. Balasanian tried to instil in his students were as follows:

• thematicism and melody are decisive;

• the reasoning behind each note;

• validity of the form and methods of its implementation;

• the composition should be interesting both to the average listener (the problem of accessibility) and to the professional (the problem of innovation in the broad sense of language and form).

In 1973, Irina graduated from the Conservatory with a honours degree. However, strangely enough, her application for postgraduate studies was not accepted. Not having completed postgraduate studies, she had no right to teach even in a music college. Irina tried to get a job in the music editorial office of the Radio Committee. Strangely enough, the vacancies disappeared as soon as she filled out
‘mother’ on her application form.

Desperate to find work, she concentrated on preparing
to join the Composers' Union in the hope that membership
would outweigh the ethnic origin.

In 1974 Irina Manukian became a member of the USSR Union of Composers.

She was immediately invited to become a lecturer at the Moscow Regional Philharmonic. Offers were made, the author's concerts were included in concert subscriptions.

Perhaps the first professional acquaintance with the origins of Armenian music, with examples of liturgy, took place in Yerevan during the celebrations dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Komitas. Irina took part in these celebrations at the invitation of S. A. Balasanian. At the same time, she began an in-depth study of Komitas' four-volume ethnographic work. The acquired knowledge was used in working on arrangements of Komitas' songs for two or three voices.

Relying on the traditions of Armenian melos, Irina created deep and significant works: the cantata ‘Morning of Nairi’ on the poems of Armenian poets translated by V. Brusov, and in 1973 a vocal cycle on the poems of Naapet Kuchak - the great Armenian poet of the 16th century. Five songs - five emotional states expressed by music sincere and excited, in the musical embodiment of Irina Manukyan sound modern and fresh.

At the end of the 1980s, on the wave of events in Transcaucasia, the idea of a musical performance ‘Like a Vine of Grapes’ about the history of the Armenian nation emerged. The libretto and poetic texts were written by the poetess N.M. Gabrielian, and the wonderful artist B. Otarov was ready to design the performance. B.A. Pokrovsky undertook the staging: he was shown the finished material in a concert performance, he listened with incredible concentration to the end for more than an hour, was touched and said: ‘Immortal is the people who gave birth to such beautiful music’.
Unfortunately, the play was never staged. Almost in parallel with work on the performance ‘Like a vine of grapes’ Irina began a new vocal cycle for two women's voices and piano to the poems of Н. Gabrielian.

With the creation in 1976 of the Chamber Cantata on the poems of Federico Garcia Lorca, Irina began a collaboration with the wonderful singers Karina and Ruzanna Lissitsian. The cantata was performed for the first time by two duets: the piano duo of A. Bakhchiev and E. Sorokina  and vocal duet of the Lissitsian sisters. The percussion part was performed by M. Pekarsky.

The success of the work depended on the playfulness and true ensemble performance. During rehearsals, all singing doubts were resolved at the highest level - by P. G. Lissitsian and Z. A. Dolukhanova. It was at this time that Irina became closely acquainted with all the Lissitsians.

It was Pavel Lissitsian who recommended the writer Levon Brutian, who was preparing to publish his new book, to include in it an essay on the works of Irina Manukian. 
The book is devoted to the works of composers of Armenian origin who  cast in their lot with Russia and, in particular, to Moscow and St Petersburg. 
It includes essays on A. Khachaturian, A. Babajanian, E. Khagagoghortian, S. Balasanian, Y. Ter-Osipov, K. Khachaturian, I. Manukian, M. Tariverdiev, D. Tukhmanov, composers of Rakhmaninov and Glazunov circle and many others. A beautiful preface to this book was written by Andrei Yakovlevich Eshpai.

Also written for the Lyssitsian sisters were:

• Cantata in the old style (for the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach).

• The Lyric – a vocal cycle on the verses of English poets.

• The cycle ‘The Way of Comets’ to the verses by M. Tsvetaeva is dedicated to and written for Zara Dolukhanova. Unfortunately, the cycle was not performed during the author's lifetime. By the time it was completed, Z. Dolukhanova's singing career had ended.

K.P. Lissitsian, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation, National Artist of the Republic of Armenia, Professor:

«Colourful, whimsical vocal parts, rare harmonic fusion of music and words, contrast of separate parts, rich inventive instrumental accompaniment captivate from the first sounds both performers,
and the audience. Like no one else, she felt the soloist, breathed with him, reacted instantly to sudden improvisations.

Our co-operation with Irina continued throughout our creative life. In more than twenty years we can count many compositions made especially for us. The main thing inherent in all of Irina Manukyan's work is melodic richness, harmonic beauty, always expressed in modern musical language, optimistic beginning, high professionalism and absolute uniqueness».

In April 1977 Irina (on the recommendation of S.A. Balasanyan) got a job in the laboratory created by D.B. Kabalevsky for the preparation of musical programmes for secondary schools at the Research Institute of Schools of the Ministry of Education. Irina Eduardovna was responsible for adaptations, arrangements, transcriptions, orchestrations, and editing of page proofs of sheet music.

The hard but interesting work lasted for 6 years; when three mandatory attendance days were introduced in the laboratory, Irina Eduardovna had to leave - the remaining time was disastrously insufficient for composition work.

The following years saw the appearance of major works: the oratorio The Fallen and the Living to verses by A. Tvardovsky in 1984, a chamber cantata in the old style (for the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach) in 1985, a Symphony for strings and percussion in 1986....

The creative evolution of Irina Manukyan includes two constant elements: the search for the new and a reverent attitude to tradition, a desire for richness of associative background. Irina Manukyan's compositions are characterised by a careful elaboration of form and the choice of expressive means suitable to the content.

In one of her last interviews she said:

«I do not disguise the fact that I want to be understandable to listeners without compromising the high principles of professionalism and good taste, while at the same time keeping in line with the renewal of the musical language».

In 1987 Irina Eduardovna created the ‘Wreath of Preludes’ - one of the most significant works for piano in her oeuvre. The magnificent feeling of the instrument is vividly demonstrated in the fifteen pieces, which are grouped into several micro-cycles - 4, 4, 4, 3.
Each of the three initial groups has a moving, toccata-like finale that separates one cycle from the next. All three groups also have movements similar to the middle movements of a symphony - in the nature of a monologue-improvisation or self-inflected reflection. The fifteenth piece echoes the structure of the first, and together they form a frame that holds the whole together.

In 1991 Irina entered the Dunayevsky School No. 2 as a composition teacher. Her pupils have repeatedly won prizes in competitions. At the moment, two of her pupils have been admitted to the Composers' Union, and several more have graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in composition.

During her work at the school Irina Eduardovna developed an author's method of teaching composition to children and began to prepare materials for writing a book. In 2002 she was awarded the title of Honoured Art Worker, equal to the position of professor.

In autumn 2002 at the festival ‘Moscow Autumn’ there was a performance of a tragicomic cantata on the poems of Kozma Prutkov, in the beginning of 2003 Irina Eduardovna began to work on an opera based on the works of Camoens.

Unfortunately, she was unable to complete this work. 

Irina Manukyan passed away in 2004 in Moscow.

«My star is probably Vega. As a child, my father often drew my attention to this sad, pale blue star. And I remembered it. I knew that Daddy loved Vega, and that he associated all the beautiful things in life with that distant star in the middle of the sky. And so do I.

Every man has a purpose in life, and he must leave something behind. May, when we are gone, in the glow of this pale blue star a part of our soul will be contained..».

This diary line is dated 1964, written by a sixteen-year-old girl. It would seem that there's nothing special about the sky and the stars in it - lots of romantic girls write about the stars.

Vega is the first magnitude star in the constellation Lyra.