Marie Awadis

Armenian composer and pianist Marie Awadis was born in Lebanon and now lives in Germany. Her sensitive music, with the piano as its leading instrument, is shaped by the influences that defined her path as a person and an artist. The classical canon resonates within it, as does the folk tradition of Armenia with its unmistakable harmonies and melodies. Awadis has dedicated herself entirely to composition. Striving to break new ground while processing her own, highly diverse cultural experiences, she composes works that are authentic and personal. She calls herself an optimist with a spiritual side, but it is her creativity that defines and drives her. Her collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon began in 2021 when she wrote the piece "Alone" for the label's contemporary music series "XII." Now she has recorded her DG debut album, *Études Mélodiques*, twelve poetic etudes for piano that are reminiscent of Chopin but also evoke the contrasting currents of American and European minimalism. The album will be released in September 2024. Marie Awadis's grandparents fled the Armenian Genocide to Syria in 1915. Her father later moved to Lebanon and built a life there within the Armenian diaspora. During the Lebanese Civil War in the late 1970s and 1980s, Marie learned the language and culture of her homeland at an Armenian school. At the age of just five, she first stood on stage, singing in her father's folk band. Music became a passion and a refuge. At eight, she began piano lessons. She focused on the classical repertoire from Bach to Rachmaninoff, performed as a soloist, played chamber music, accompanied choirs, and participated in studio projects. Her curiosity for all genres led her to jazz and world music, which strongly influenced her compositional style in the following years. She eventually studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Beirut. After graduating with a degree in piano and teaching at the conservatory for three years, she moved to Hanover to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Music, Drama and Media there. While still studying, she was invited to perform Schumann's Piano Concerto with the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra. After that, she took a break from classical piano. She found her way back to it through classical and traditional Armenian pieces when she began performing works for solo piano by various Armenian composers. Today, she gives concerts in Germany and other European countries and collaborates with various artists on stage and in the studio. Awadis wrote her first piano piece at 16, but then postponed her passion for composing and only rediscovered it when she sought forms of expression to tell her own story. Music had always been a space where she felt safe. Her emotions found shape within it. It was a refuge – even as a child in a war-torn country. Today, music is her home. Armenian, Lebanese, and German cultures come together within it, three places that have shaped her life and work. Already in the transitional phase between concert activity and composing, Awadis wrote pieces for solo piano as well as cello and piano. This was followed by compositions for string quartet and other chamber ensembles, as well as choral works. Today, she has established herself as a composer, yet it seems to her that she less conceives her pieces than receives them. Once the notes are on the page, they no longer seem to be hers. She begins with countless ideas and improvisations and gradually creates order out of the compositional chaos. Structure arises from feeling. One day, however, she wants to lay this intuitive method on an initial structural foundation, because she loves architecture, both generally and musically. Marie Awadis's previous releases include *Echoes* (2015), *Searching* (2017), and *Una Corda Diaries* (2020), which she wrote specifically for the unique Una Corda M189 instrument by Klavins and also recorded in Budapest. A vocal experiment recorded during the pandemic was released in November 2023 as an EP titled *LUYS*. 2/2024