Alarm Will Sound, the ensemble performing this work, is a GRAMMY®-winning, 22-member group known for its innovative performances and recordings of contemporary music.
Composition History
The project expanded to include interviews with refugee resettlement workers after the 2017 U.S. travel bans, with many of these workers themselves having been refugees.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Composer Mary Kouyoumdjian, a first-generation Armenian-American, integrates recorded testimonies and field recordings into her work to humanize complex experiences of social and political conflict.
Recording & Production
The album is a live recording of the world premiere performance of Paper Pianos, which took place on February 25, 2023, at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in Troy, New York.
Composition History
The work's title, Paper Pianos, comes from the story of Milad Yousufi, an Afghan pianist who drew piano keys on paper to practice in silence to avoid life-threatening censure from the Taliban.
Critical Reception
Paper Pianos was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music, recognized as a socially urgent multi-media work that blends music and audio documentary with first-person refugee stories.
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