Karen Ouzounian and Lembit Beecher to Tour New Immersive Program MAYRIG

GRAMMY-nominated Armenian-Canadian cellist and composer Karen Ouzounian and Rome Prize-winning Estonian-American composer, pianist and animator Lembit Beecher, will bring their new program, Mayrig, to international audiences throughout 2026 and 2027.

Mayrig ("mother" in Armenian) is an immersive 65-minute show created by the husband and wife duo, centering on the human voice and featuring cello, electronics, piano, and vocals. The voices of Ouzounian's mother and grandmother are interwoven with original arrangements of Armenian music of her family's past home of Anatolia, songs and stories drawn from their post-genocide home of Lebanon, and the music of Charles Aznavour.

New compositions by Beecher, Layale Chaker, Nathalie Joachim, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, and Ouzounian expand upon themes of generational transmission, rootedness, and uprootedness. Opening and closing the program is Marin Marais's Les Voix Humaines, music from hundreds of years ago providing a window into the present.

Ouzounian has received the inaugural Alumni Catalyst Fund from the Ravinia Festival in Steans Institute. Ravinia Festival will premiere an expanded version of the Mayrig program on Saturday, September 5, 2026 at 1:30 PM, following a developmental workshop hosted by Ravinia from March 30 to April 2, 2026.

This expanded version, co-produced by the Steans Institute, will include celebrated guest musicians oud player Ara Dinkjian, violist Maiya Papach, and bassist Shawn Conley, as well as newly commissioned visual art by the renowned French illustrator Charles Berberian. This expanded version of Mayrig will subsequently be presented on Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00 PM at The Colburn School in Los Angeles.

Additional performances of the duo version of Mayrig include Casa del Jazz in Rome, Italy on Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 12:00 PM; Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM at Kaufman Music Center in New York City; Saturday, November 28, 2026 at 3:30 PM at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany; Saturday, December 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM at Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia; Sunday, March 21, 2027 at 4:00 PM at Noe Music in San Francisco, CA; and Sunday, April 18, 2027 at 4:00 PM at Music Toronto in Canada. Additional tour dates for the 2026-2027 season will be announced at a later date.

Mayrig originally premiered at Germany's Morgenland Festival Osnabrück in summer 2025 and has since been presented in Amsterdam and San Diego.

Tour Dates

May 31, 2026 - Casa del Jazz (Rome, Italy)

September 5, 2026 - Ravinia Festival (Highland Park, Illinois)

October 18, 2026 - The Colburn School (Los Angeles, California)

October 27, 2026 - Kaufman Music Center (New York, New York)

November 28, 2026 - Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg, Germany)

December 5, 2026 - Arvo Pärt Centre (Estonia)

March 21, 2027 - Noe Music (San Francisco, CA)

April 18, 2027 - Music Toronto (Toronto, Canada)

Photo Credit: Ebru Yildiz