MAYRIG: A MOTHER'S VOICE to Open at Colburn

Colburn Presents, the signature Colburn series that brings renowned guest artists from the worlds of classical music, jazz, and dance to Colburn's stages, will present GRAMMY-nominated cellist and composer Karen Ouzounian and Rome Prize-winning composer, pianist and animator Lembit Beecher's immersive and intimate 60-minute show, Mayrig: A Mother's Voice.

The performance is scheduled for Sunday, October 18 at 3 pm at Colburn's Thayer Hall. Tickets are available here.

The work, for cello with electronics, piano, and vocals, weaves the voices of Ouzounian's mother and grandmother with original arrangements of Armenian music from her family's past home of Anatolia, songs and stories drawn from their post-genocide home of Lebanon, and the beloved music of Charles Aznavour. New compositions by Lembit, Layale Chaker, Nathalie Joachim, and Niloufar Nourbakhsh 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. Through the specifics of family history, Mayrig creates an absorbing world of memory and association, leading the audience to an experience that is universal and shared, allowing space to consider the layers of meaning and history contained within music and the twisting paths that have led us all to this time and place.

Premiered at Germany's Morgenland Festival Osnabrück in summer 2025, Mayrig has since been presented in Amsterdam and San Diego. For its Colburn presentation, Ouzounian and Beecher bring an expanded version of the program, joined by Maiya Papach, principal violist of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Ara Dinkjian, Armenian American musician and oud specialist; and Maxwell Winningham, performer, composer, and improviser.

Original visual artwork by the celebrated French, Paris-based graphic novelist Charles Berberian is featured throughout Mayrig. Appearing in the form of video projections and in print, Berberian's illustrations accompany the audio collages and stories woven throughout the program. An artist of Armenian-Greek descent who grew up in Beirut until the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, Berberian is a contemporary of Karen's mother, Lena Ouzounian.

This performance is in collaboration with Ravinia's Steans Institute.

Sought after for her 'radiant' (The New York Times) performances full of 'tremendous heart, bringing joy and a captivating sound to the stage' (The Strad), Karen Ouzounian is a GRAMMY-nominated cellist and composer who champions and creates a remarkable breadth of music with fierce commitment and emotional power. She has collaborated with some of the most singular musicians of our time, including Yo-Yo Ma, Rhiannon Giddens and Augustin Hadelich, and has appeared as a soloist at major venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie, Kölner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, and Carnegie Hall, as well as at leading festivals including Marlboro, Ojai, Caramoor, and Ravinia. Recent milestones include concertos written for her by Lembit Beecher (Tell Me Again) and Anna Clyne (Shorthand), and her solo debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Kayhan Kalhor's double concerto Venus in the Mirror. As a composer she has been commissioned by the Aeolus Quartet, Silkroad Ensemble, and Salt Bay Chamberfest, and in 2024 she premiered Dear Mountains, a major work co-composed with Beecher for chorus, solo cello, oud, and percussion, commissioned by Cantori New York. She performs as a member of the Silkroad Ensemble and The Knights, and was the founding cellist of the Aizuri Quartet for 11 years, earning major chamber music prizes on three continents. Born to Lebanese Armenian parents in Toronto, she holds degrees from The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music.

Estonian-American composer, pianist, and animator Lembit Beecher, winner of the 2025-2026 Samuel Barber Rome Prize at the American Academy in Rome, writes 'hauntingly lovely and deeply personal' music (San Francisco Chronicle) filled with 'astonishing musical invention' (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Noted for his collaborative spirit and 'ingenious' interdisciplinary projects (The Wall Street Journal), Beecher has served as composer-in-residence with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and was the inaugural composer-in-residence of Opera Philadelphia. From song cycles such as After the Fires, based on conversations with residents of his hometown following the CZU Lightning Complex Fires, to Say Home, a 38-minute piece for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Beecher's work is rooted in a fascination with how memories, histories, and stories permeate contemporary life. His three operas with Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch have drawn particular acclaim. His 2018 opera Sky on Swings, starring Frederica von Stade and Marietta Simpson, depicts the relationship between two women living with Alzheimer's disease and was praised as 'a shattering musical and theatrical evocation of what it feels like to have Alzheimer's disease' (The Wall Street Journal). Recent works include Tell Me Again, a cello concerto written for his wife, cellist and composer Karen Ouzounian, and the Orlando Philharmonic; a song cycle for tenor Nicholas Phan and violinist Augustin Hadelich; and string quartets for the Juilliard, Aizuri, and Lydian String Quartets. He has also created a series of collaborative projects with Ouzounian, including Dear Mountains for cello, oud, percussion, and choir, as well as Mayrig.

About Colburn

Colburn is a home for music and dance in Los Angeles, providing performing arts education for its students and performances and programs for the public. This mission comes to life through a community of artist-faculty, staff, and donors dedicated to excellence, and in performance spaces and educational facilities that welcome students, audiences, artists, and performing arts organizations from Southern California and across the globe.

Each year, more than 2,000 students come to Colburn, ranging from emerging professionals to young beginners. They study in one of four academic units—the Community School of Performing Arts, Conservatory of Music, Music Academy, and Trudl Zipper Dance Institute—which are united by a single philosophy: that all who desire to study music or dance should have access to top-level instruction. More than $16 million in annual scholarship support helps students reach their full potential, regardless of their ability to pay. Serving all units of the School, the Center for Innovation and Community Impact prepares students for sustainable careers and nurtures the passion and ability to serve their communities, while also offering a suite of pipeline programs for students from local Title I schools.

A destination for the performing arts, Colburn also presents more than 350 performances each year on campus and in the community. Featuring guest artists, faculty, alumni, and students and offered at accessible prices, these performances invite the community to experience music and dance while cultivating the next generation of audiences.