Chopin, minimalism and Armenian flair come together on Études Mélodiques, the debut DG album from composer-pianist Marie Awadis. Its 12 tracks for solo piano reveal her individual and unique voice, a product of the diverse influences that enrich her music. The classical foundations of her conservatory years persist – with Chopin providing the obvious formal starting point – but they’re interwoven with aspects of everything from Bach to Kancheli, via jazz and the Armenian folk tunes she has known since childhood. And, reflecting a more recent musical discovery, the dual strands of US and European minimalism also play a key role here. “My music is not typically classical or neoclassical or avant-garde; it’s something in between,” says Awadis. “When I compose, I have feelings, pictures, stories or places in my mind, rather than a sequence of themes moving across a pre-planned structure. The ideal, for me, is to combine my own intuitive approach with the rhythmic precision of American minimalism, the spirituality of European minimalism and the emotions of Armenian music. Because that’s me – an Armenian-Lebanese-German combination.” Armenian by ancestry, Marie Awadis grew up in war-torn Lebanon before moving to Germany to continue her musical studies. Since then she has steadfastly followed her own path, allowing her music to speak for her. Études Mélodiques reflects Awadis’s determination to remain true to herself, to strip away the outer surface of display and reveal the emotions that lie beneath.