João Kouyoumdjian

joao-surfboardSurfboard: Solo Guitar Works from Brazil

Release Date: 2013 | Genre: Classical: Traditional
© ℗ Copyright-Pomegranate Music
Record Label: Pomegranate Music

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joao-bachKouyoumdjian Plays Bach: New Transcriptions for Guitar

Release Date: 2015 | Genre: Classical
© ℗ Copyright-Pomegranate Music
Record Label: Pomegranate Music

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João Kouyoumdjian is a Brazilian-born classical guitarist of mixed Brazilian and Armenian ethnic heritage. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and the University of São Paulo, where he studied under Sharon Isbin and Edelton Gloeden, respectively. He also studied with Preto Moreno, and was a mentee of Paulo Martelli.

Since winning the XXI Souza Lima National Guitar Competition in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2010, Kouyoumdjian has been building a steady international performance career that has spanned the United States, Brazil, Europe and Africa. Among his concert engagements, noted stops have included Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum. He also has performed as a guest soloist with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra in Yerevan, Armenia.

A native of São José do Rio Preto, Brazil, João Kouyoumdjian has been featured on numerous nationally televised concert series in his homeland, including the acclaimed Movimento Violão. In 2011, he premiered new works by Brazilian composers Ricardo Calderoni and Raimundo Penaforte at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall at the behest of the Consulate General of Brazil in New York in a program entitled, “Brazilian Guitar: Traditional and Tendencies”. This program inspired his debut album, Surfboard: Solo Guitar Works from Brazil, (Pomegranate Music) released in 2013. Additionally, João’s interest and dedication towards teaching was highlighted in the press recently with his interactive performance/on-stage teaching model called “Guitar Horizons”, which focused on educating youth in underdeveloped areas of São Paulo, Brazil.

João Kouyoumdjian currently resides in the Greater New York City area where he enjoys an active performance, teaching and recording schedule. He is currently on faculty at the Newark School of the Arts, where he teaches Guitar and Theory as well as being Artist-In-Residence at Grace Church in Newark, New Jersey.