Armenian-American Composer Mary Kouyoumdjian Makes History With GRAMMY Nomination for Opera Recording

Armenian-American composer and documentarian Mary Kouyoumdjian has made history in the American music world. Her chamber opera “Adoration” has been nominated for a 2026 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording. This is the first time an opera by an Armenian composer has been recognized in this category. The nomination shows her growing influence in contemporary music and brings wider attention to Armenian voices in the arts.

“Adoration” is based on Atom Egoyan’s film of the same name. It tells the story of a high school student whose fictional story about a terrorist plot spreads quickly online. Through this storyline, the work explores how grief, racism, and media distortion can twist the truth and shape public perception. Kouyoumdjian uses a musical language that blends her Armenian heritage with modern electronic and classical elements. As a first-generation Armenian-American whose family lived through the Lebanese Civil War and the Armenian Genocide, she carries these histories into her sound world.

Her work often includes recordings of real testimonies and sounds from different places. She uses these tools to bring attention to social and political issues and to help audiences feel empathy toward people who have lived through conflict. Her approach has been widely praised, and “Adoration” has been described as a powerful and emotional experience, with the Los Angeles Times writing that it “is never far from profound rapture.”

The nominated recording is the world premiere live album of the electroacoustic chamber opera, created with librettist Royce Vavrek and produced by Beth Morrison Projects. Alan Pierson conducts the performance, with a cast that includes Miriam Khalil, Omar Najmi, David Adam Moore, Naomi Louisa O’Connell, Marc Kudisch, Sammy Ivany, and GRAMMY Award winner Karim Sulayman. The performance also includes the Silvana Quartet, sound designer Daniel Neumann, electronics by Kouyoumdjian, and the GRAMMY-nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street under Thomas McCargar.

This latest achievement continues a major period of recognition for Kouyoumdjian. She is already known for a wide range of work that crosses genres, including concert pieces, multimedia collaborations, and film scores. She was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music and has received commissions from leading institutions such as the New York Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alarm Will Sound, and Beth Morrison Projects. Her music has been performed at major venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Barbican Centre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and festivals around the world.

Her opera “Adoration” premiered in New York City through Beth Morrison Projects and later received its West Coast premiere at LA Opera. The world premiere recording was released in August 2025 by Bright Shiny Things. The GRAMMY nomination marks an important moment not only for her career but also for Armenian representation in classical music, as it is the first opera by an Armenian composer to compete in this category.

Kouyoumdjian’s wider body of work also includes her portrait album WITNESS with the Kronos Quartet, released in 2025. She has been praised by international music critics, who describe her work as emotionally powerful, politically brave, and deeply human. Her music-documentary Paper Pianos, which focuses on displacement and asylum, premiered in 2023 at EMPAC and was performed again in 2025 at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

In addition to her composing career, Kouyoumdjian has been active as an educator and advocate for new music. She has taught at Columbia University, the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Brooklyn College’s Feirstein School of Cinema, Mannes Prep, and the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program. She currently teaches composition at The New School and co-founded the annual New Music Gathering conference. She has also served as Executive Director of the contemporary music ensemble Hotel Elefant and as Co-Artistic Director of Wild Shore New Music in Alaska.

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