FIVE THINGS You SHould KNOW ABOUT
Tigran Hamasyan

October 22, 2019 | by Rusty Aceves

Tigran Hamasyan

It’s exciting to have Tigran Hamasyan back at SFJAZZ, performing in duet with vocalist Areni Agbabian on 10/24. Here are five things to know about the pianist and his music, or more accurately, four things about Tigran and one about Agbabian:

1. He began playing his family’s piano at age three, and was enrolled in a music school by six. At 10, Tigran and his family moved from their hometown of Gyumri, Armenia to Yerevan, where the budding pianist came under the tutelage of Vahag Hayrapetyan, a former student of jazz legend Barry Harris. “That’s when I understood what jazz is,” Tigran says. His exposure to jazz blended with the folk music of his Armenian upbringing to create a unique perspective and compositional approach.
2. He won the Montreux Jazz Festival’s piano competition in 2003 at age 16, and the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition at 19. His other awards include the 2005 Concours de Solistes de Jazz de Monaco and the 2013 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Cotemporary Music, among others.
3. Tigran has led nine albums as a leader, including his masterful 2015 ECM Records session Luys i Luso (Light from the Light), composed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and recorded in collaboration with the Yerevan State Chamber Choir under the direction of Harutyun Topikyan. As part of the commemoration, the work was performed in 100 churches around the world. Tigran’s most recent release is his original score to Japanese director Joe Odagiri’s acclaimed 2019 film They Say Nothing Stays the Same.
4. The pianist’s career as a bandmate and collaborator includes work with a wide range of artists, including Tunisian oud virtuoso Dhafer Youssef, jazz drumming great Ari Hoenig, British electronic duo LV, and System of a Down vocalist Serj Tankian. He recorded the 2016 collective ECM quartet album Atmosphères with trumpeter Arve Henriksen, guitarist Eivind Aarset and electronic musician Jan Bang.
5. Improvising vocalist Areni Agbabian has toured internationally with Tigran since 2009 and appeared on his 2015 Echo Award-winning Nonesuch Records release Mockroot and his 2013 Verve album Shadow Theater. Her ECM Records debut, Bloom, was released this year.

Tigran Hamasyan and Areni Agbabian perform October 24 in Miner Auditorium at the SFJAZZ Center.

Buy Tickets