NewsTHE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES at THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/ Triune, Axion Estin Chanters, Meg Zervoulis, Jascha Narveson
Commission The Metropolitan Museum of Art commissions a new live score by composer Mary Kouyoumdjian to accompany this rare screening of Sergei Parajanov's classic Armenian avant-garde film, The Color of Pomegranates (1969)—a visually sumptuous biography of 18th-century Armenian troubadour Sayat-Nova. A panel discussion on the cultural heritage of Armenia follows the film.Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Armenia!
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Intensely moving, boldly beautiful, this could be the future of a new kind of documentary” |
ROOMFUL OF TEETH/ commission by American Composers Forum
ACF Connect
ACF Connect
Kouyoumdjian selected to write for Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth for their 10th anniversary celebration at MASS MoCA. Premiere in August of 2019 along works by Mingjia Chen and Peter Shin.
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Commissioned by Kronos Quartet – Lebanon, once the refuge where my grandparents and great-grandparents sought safety from the Armenian Genocide, became the dangerous home my parents and brother were forced to abandon during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). We often read stories and see images in the news about violent events in the Middle East, but we very rarely get to hear the perspective of an individual who lived through them. Inspired by loved ones who grew up during the Lebanese Civil War, it is my hope that Bombs of Beirut provides a sonic picture of what day-to-day life is like in a turbulent Middle East –– not filtered through the news and media, but through the real words of real people. The prerecorded backing track includes interviews with family and friends who shared their various experiences living in a time of war; it also presents sound documentation of bombings and attacks on civilians tape-recorded on an apartment balcony between 1976-1978.
Header photo by Dominica Eriksen