Tigran Hamasyan – The Bird of a Thousand Voices

For pianist Tigran Hamasyan, born in Armenia in 1987, the piano literature of European classical music is the basis. However, as a child he met the artistic director of the Yerevan Jazz Festival. He learnt from him that jazz is about expression and emotionality – and set out to mix Armenian music with African-American jazz from then on. ‘The Bird of a Thousand Voices’ is his transcultural masterpiece. It is based on a fairy tale in which a king wishes for peace for his kingdom. He hears of a bird with a thousand voices. His son sets out on a quest to make the bird sing and redeem his father’s kingdom. Hamasyan’s music is more than just a hybrid of folklore, post-rock and contemporary jazz. Rather, it is his attempt to show the good in its stylistic boundlessness in order to reveal to people the vision of a better world. In order to share this vision with as many people as possible, he has also turned it into an immersive piece of music theatre, which premiered in Amsterdam last year.