Nonesuch Records releases its third recording from pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan, For Gyumri, on February 16, 2018. A companion to last year’s An Ancient Observer, For Gyumri includes five additional songs. Hamasyan says of the two records: "These songs are musical observations about the world we live in now, and the weight of history we carry with us." Hamasyan will tour this winter/spring; see details below. For Gyumri is available to preorder now at iTunes and the Nonesuch Store, where purchases include an instant download of the track "Rays of Light." You can watch the video for the song, directed by Elena Hamasyan, here:
Hamasyan named the album in tribute to his hometown of Gyumri, Armenia, where he was born in 1987 before relocating with his family to Los Angeles in 2003. He currently resides in Erevan, Armenia.
Hamasyan began playing piano at the age of three and started performing in festivals and competitions when he was eleven, winning the Montreux Jazz Festival’s piano competition in 2003. He released his debut album, World Passion, in 2005 at the age of seventeen. The following year, he won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition.
