biography
PIANIST & COMPOSER
Tigran Hamasyan is considered one of the most remarkable and distinctive jazz-meets-rock pianists/composers of his generation. A piano virtuoso with groove power, Hamasyan seamlessly fuses potent jazz improvisation and progressive rock with the rich folkloric music of his native Armenia. Born in Gyumri, Armenia, in 1987, his musical journey began in his childhood home, where he was exposed to a diverse array of musical influences leading to him playing piano at the age of three, performing in festivals and competitions by the time he was eleven, and winning the Montreux Jazz Festival’s piano competition in 2003. He released his debut album, World Passion, in 2004 at the age of seventeen. The following year, he won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. Additional albums include New Era; Red Hail; A Fable, for which he was awarded a Victoires de la Musique (the equivalent of a Grammy Award in France); Shadow Theater; and Luys i Luso which featured the Yerevan State Chamber Choir focusing on Armenian sacred music stretching stylistically from the 5th century to the 20th century.
His Nonesuch debut, Mockroot (2015), won the Echo Jazz Award for International Piano Instrumentalist of the Year; subsequent records for the label include An Ancient Observer (2017) the companion EP, For Gymuri (2018), Revisiting the Film (2021) and most recently StandArt (2022). Hamasyan was awarded the Deutscher Jazzpreis international category in Piano/Keyboards in 2021. Hamasyan has released records on France’s Plus Loins, Universal France, Nonesuch and ECM.
“The Kingdom” – Hamasyan’s debut single on Naïve/Believe – and the first from the much-anticipated new conceptual album “The Bird of a Thousand Voices” (August 2024) is out everywhere now. Tigran composed, scored, and arranged “The Kingdom” blending its traditional folk footprints with rock influences. “The Kingdom” can also be experienced as an interactive game at www.bird1000.com. The forthcoming double album is inspired by an ancient Armenian tale in which a hero travels into unseen realms to find and bring back a mythical bird – whose thousand different songs will awaken people again and bring harmony to the world. The transmedia music theater piece ‘The Bird of a Thousand Voices’, an intriguing immersive light installation with shadow play, digitally programmed voices, live music, and an Armenian-English libretto will have its world premiere at the Holland Festival in June 2024.
In addition to awards and critical acclaim, Hamasyan has built a dedicated following worldwide, as well as praise from Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau and the late Chick Corea. “With startling combinations of jazz, minimalist, electronic, folk and songwriterly elements…Hamasyan and his collaborators travel musical expanses marked with heavy grooves, ethereal voices, pristine piano playing and ancient melodies. You’ll hear nothing else like this” (NPR)
Tigran’s music marks a daring interplay of extremes where the slamming intensity of high energy contemporary groove-metal meets the celestial-bound melodies and metrically-complex folk music traditions largely sourced from his Armenian heritage. Yet the deep connections he's made in his exploration of ancient and contemporary culture have inspired the organic integration of musical elements on this recording. read more
FUSIng FUTURE & FOLK
project ‘Luys I Luso’ Yerevan State Chamber Choir
Awards & Recognitions
2002: 3rd Prize Concours International de Piano-Jazz Martial Solal (Paris).
2003: 1st Prize Jazz à Juan Révélations in the jazz instrumental category.
2003: 1st Prize Prix de la Critique et du Public, Concours de Piano du Montreux Jazz Festival.
2005: 3rd Prize Concours de Piano-Jazz de Moscou.
2005: 1st Prize 8ème Concours de Solistes de Jazz de Monaco.
2006: 1st Prize Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.
2006: 2nd Prize Concours International de Piano-Jazz Martial Solal.
2013: Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Contemporary Music
2015: Paul Acket Award in the North Sea Jazz Festival.
2016: ECHO Jazz Awards.
PRESS & QUOTES
“A phenomenal piano player, an irrepressible entertainer, a promising experimenter with hi-tech gizmology and a creative world-music composer.”
— The Guardian
“His touch is sublime”
— Downbeat
“Where so much contemporary jazz can be a dreary display of muscle memory, Tigran has found a way to keep improvisation fresh and lyrical.”
— The Guardian
“A-may-zing! Now, Tigran, you are my teacher !”
— Herbie Hancock
“Hamasyan and his collaborators travel musical expanses marked with heavy grooves, ethereal voices, pristine piano playing and ancient melodies. You’ll hear nothing else like this…”
— NPR Music
“Brilliant musician!
— Jools Holland
“He plays piano like a raga, the next Keith Jarrett”
— Trilok Gurtu
“Tigran Hamasyan merges ancient Armenian sacred music with jazz piano.
— New York Times