He was a prodigy, learning piano at age 3, studying jazz at USC at age 16. He was the winner of the Montreux and Thelonious Monk jazz piano competitions as a teenager. However, instead of becoming embedded in the jazz scene in New York, Tigran Hamasyan has followed a different path, one that eventually took him back to his native Armenia, where he now lives and writes music about his beloved homeland. His sheer brilliance on the piano is matched by the beauty and integrity of his folk-inspired compositions. Like a modern-day Bartók, Hamasyan’s music is deeply rooted in his Eastern European heritage, yet it has a modernist’s intellect and a charismatic fire that can be traced only to its author. His debut on Nonesuch is called Mockroot, featuring drummer Arthur Hnatek and bassist Sam Minaie.

Fri., Feb. 20, 9 p.m., 2015
(Expired: 02/20/15)

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