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Petros Shoujounian was born in Gumri, Armenia in 1957.
He studied Violin and Composition at the College of Music in his native
city, and also gained expertise in Armenian Choral Music.
In Montreal in 1976, Shoujounian pursued his studies at the Quebec Conservatory
of Music under Gilles Tremblay for his MA in Composition (1982). As musical
director of two Montreal Armenian Choirs, Knar and Alemshah, he published
records of the works of Armenian composers and the Holy Mass.
Establishing himself as a Canadian composer, Shoujounian worked over the
years with numerous orchestras, such as I Musici de Montreal, NEM, Kitchener,
London (Ontario), Laval and with soloists like Marie-Josée Simard,
Pierre Jasmin, Jean Laurendeau, and others.
SNE has published a CD (1997) featuring the works of Petros Shoujounian,
which received the Best Modern International Award by AMFA of Los Angeles
in 1999.
The Oratorio Sourp Khatch (The Holy Cross), dedicated to the 1700th anniversary
of Christianity in Armenia, was premiered in 2001 in Toronto, with the
Elmer Iseler Singers and Sinfonia Toronto, conducted by Nurhan Arman.
For the same occasion, Petros Shoujounian orchestrated and arranged Armenian
spiritual music for chamber orchestra choir and soprano solo. CBC produced
a CD (JOYOUS LIGHT) with Isabelle Bayrakdarian, conducted by Raffi Armenian.
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