Work of the Week – Mary Kouyoumdjian: ANDOUNI (Homeless)

It is the beginning of a new collaboration: ANDOUNI (Homeless) is the first work by Mary Kouyoumdjian to be published by Schott Music. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra will premiere the new piece on 10.05.2024 at the Wu Tsai Theatre, David Geffen Hall in New York City. Conductor Kwamé Ryan will be at the podium.

ANDOUNI (Homeless) was commissioned as part of the New York Philharmonic's Project 19, which refers to the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. This gave women the right to vote for the first time in the country's history in 1920. 19 female composers receive commissions for new orchestral works over several seasons. Born in 1983, the Armenian-American composer and documentary filmmaker Kouyoumdjian developed her new piece together with the photojournalist Scout Tufankjian.

ANDOUNI (Homeless) by Mary Kouyoumdjian: New form of musical documentation

Their aim was to create a hybrid work of music and documentary that reports on the recent events and suffering of the Armenian population in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh, which the American government considers to be genocide. The composition combines field recordings, interviews, photography and live music performance.

Kouyoumdjian’s voice is all her own, with a surface gentleness that disguises an iron fist of craft and feeling. (​New York Classical Review)

In the same concert as the world premiere of ANDOUNI (Homeless) on 10 May 2024, the New York Philharmonic and Kwamé Ryan will present the US premiere of the orchestral work Ligetidyll by composer Peter Eötvös, who died at the end of March. 

Further Reading:

Mary Kouyoumdjian: Composer Profile

ANDOUNI (Homeless): Work Details and Online Score

Website New York Philharmonic

photo: Desmond White