Chronological / Works in Progress / ​Musical Documentary / Solo / Small Ensemble / Large Ensemble / Opera, Voice, Chorus / Orchestra / Theater and Dance / Fixed Media / Film / Video Library 

Expand on the right of each work for available listening, viewing, and program notes.
Published scores are available through Schott's PSNY. For unpublished scores, email mary@marykouyoumdjian.com

AND THERE WAS (2021) 
Commissioned by BANG ON A CAN FOR CELLIST ARLEN HLUSKO
SOLO CELLO DOUBLING ON VOICE/ 4'30"

Written for cellist Arlen Hlusko, and there was pulls its text from playwright Dominic Finocchiaro's play Found Dog Ribbon Dance.

and there was this space
where that something used to be

HILL AND VALLEY (2021) 
Commissioned by RANDY and JAN MCNALLY FOR THE KNOXVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
SOLO VIOLA / 4'30"

Written for violist Hillary Herndon.

I wander o'oer hill and valley
        – William Wetmore Story​

WATER AND DUST (2020)
COMMISSIONED BY SAMUEL ADAMS & HELEN KIM
SOLO VIOLIN AND DANCE / 4'

Water and Dust pulls its inspiration from author and journalist Mark Arax's book The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California, which was recommended by dear friend Samuel Adams upon discovering our shared upbringing in the Bay Area. Arax investigates the water crisis and interweaves his family's narrative as Armenian immigrants to California – Water and Dust draws from personal memories of driving the dry stretches of farmland on Highway 5 with my own Armenian family's relocation to the state. Special thanks to collaborators Post:Ballet, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially to the extraordinary violinist Helen Kim, who so thoughtfully gives this piece its grit and flow.​​

I Haven't the Words (2020) 
 5'30"
Version 1: Piano solo
​Version 2: String Quartet also available (commissioned by Kronos Quartet)

A sonic journal entry

Peony (2019)
Commissioned by National Flute Association for the 2019 High School Soloist Competition
amplified flute, audio playback/ 5'20"

Peony ​is a celebration of life after loss. This piece is in dedication to flutist and dear friend Katie Cox, whose beautiful garden full of peonies in Fairbanks, Alaska celebrates exactly that.

The Revolt of the Stars (2018)
Commissioned by Caitlin Sullivan
cello (doubling on voice), audio playback/ 5'30"

The Revolt of the Stars is inspired by the Armenian fable by the same name, in which the stars unite in an attempt to outshine the sun and the moon. The fable questions the effectiveness of 'strength in numbers' when a group that lacks strength in spirit rises up against those in positions of power.
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Mary Kouyoumdjian · The Revolt of the Stars (Perf. by Caitlyn Sullivan)

The Heaviness of Air (2015)
Commissioned by The Charles and Joan Gross Foundation for Periapsis Music and Dance, choreographed by Helen Simoneau
amplified cello, audio playback / 5'

​A snapshot of what a few moments of living with limited movement could feel like.
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Unearthed (2014)
Commissioned by Kathleen Supové
amplified piano, audio playback / 8'

An imagined dialogue between pianist and friend Kathleen Supové and her father, after she discovered her Jewish heritage. Her heritage had been concealed in the family until after her father's passing. ​

Dandelion [for Andie Springer] (2010)
Commissioned by Andie Springer, film by Nikolai Antonie
violin, audio playback, film / 9'

Just as the seeds of a dandelion, a symbol attached to childhood innocence and play, are carried to destinations unknown, Dandelion comments on how the standard repertoire of violinist Andie Tanning Springer's youth influences her contemporary musicality that is strongly focused on the experimental and avant-garde. The prepared electronics sample extracted audio from home videos of Springer's childhood recitals. The manipulated video is prepared by artist Nikolai Antonie.
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Aghavni [Doves] (2009)
Commission / Encore Music Forum
piano / 10'

1. 1910
2. 1915
3. 1986--

Based off of the poem "Carpet Weavers" by Brenda Najimian Magarity, Aghavni follows the lives of a group of women before and during the Armenian Genocide, closing with a retrospective look at those women and what they lost from a "present day" perspective.
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Project 173 (2005)
prepared piano, audio playback / 4'15"

The backing track was my first attempt at creating purely electronic music, all derived from a series of experimenting on new (to me) programs. The pianist is asked to improvise over the track, occasionally mimicking the electronic timbres. 
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Header photo by Todd Paris