Deutsche Grammophon Signs Composer, Pianist and Producer Meredi

Berlin, 7 June 2024. Deutsche Grammophon is delighted to announce the signing of an exclusive agreement with Meredi. The classically trained German-Armenian artist, whose name means “melody” in Armenian, currently divides her time between Berlin and LA. She writes, performs and produces expressive, intimate, melody-driven music, and has been playing the piano for as long as she can remember. “I always had this crazy amount of music in my head, just composing itself,” she recalls. “It was too loud to ignore, and I only learned how to read music to write my own pieces down.”

Meredi works in different genres and for a variety of forces, from solo piano miniatures and to large-scale orchestral works for theatre, ballet or the concert hall, as well as music for film and television. As pianist, she often performs in unconventional spaces and circumstances, including art galleries, night clubs, an electro festival in Bulgaria and, at last year’s Berlin Fashion Week, on the catwalk as part of a show.

In 2022, Meredi composed “White Flowers Take Their Bath” for Mari Samuelsen’s DG album LYS – a track which has since garnered over 9 million global streams. Following on from the recent release of “Nachtigall” (“Nightingale”) to coincide with this year’s World Sleep Day, Meredi’s six-track digital EP Flourish will come out on 28 June 2024. Both “Double Sky” and “Double Sky (Reprise)” from Flourish are available to stream now, while a third track, “Ararat”, will be released on the same day as the EP, accompanied by a performance video.

“We’re excited to partner with such a forward-thinking artist – one who is pushing the boundaries of contemporary music,” says Nanja Oedi, DG Director Marketing New Repertoire. “Meredi’s ability to seamlessly combine artistic exploration with accessibility is truly captivating.”

“Signing with Deutsche Grammophon feels like coming home after a long journey,” says Meredi. “My childhood was filled with the sounds of DG records, the yellow label was the constant presence of the composers who built the world before me. Despite encountering resistance in the conservative classical world, where I often felt like an outsider, this signing is validation that classical music is not married to the past, it is alive, thriving and evolving in contemporary artists and composers.

“Growing up, DG records were my embodiment of quality in classical music culture. Deutsche Grammophon emerged as more than a label – it is now the very platform through which I can elevate my melodies to a global audience, ensuring their timeless resonance long after my own journey.”

The tracks on Flourish are connected by a musical theme subtly threaded throughout the EP. It seems as if this itinerant tune is forever in search of a home, while also becoming a place to which the music always eventually returns. This creates an unsettling sense of both welcome security and a yearning for stability. The recurrent motif can be heard most clearly in the two singles released today. “Double Sky” is bittersweet, with gentle vocals (in Armenian) floating above sparkling Moog Grandmother and Lyra−8 synths, cello, violin and piano, while the reprise has the soothing feel of a lullaby.

“Meredi’s remarkable talent for processing life’s experiences and encounters into timeless melodies is outstanding and unique,” says Anusch Alimirzaie, Senior Manager A&R at Deutsche Grammophon. “She comes up with so many exceptional musical ideas that go straight to your heart. Her music transcends the boundaries of new classical genres, defying societal expectations while still paying tribute to the traditions she encountered during her compositional studies, thanks to her original approach to unifying instrumentation, harmony and structure. Stay tuned, there’s a lot to come!”

Born in Berlin in 1992, Meredi began playing the old piano that stood in the hallway of her family home at an early age and started lessons at the age of six. While continuing her musical education at a performing arts school in the German capital, she also studied at both the Hanns Eisler Conservatory and the Berlin University of the Arts, later specialising in composition for film and media at the Munich Conservatory. Her first orchestral pieces were performed while she was still in her teens and she has won a series of composition competitions, including several run by the Jeunesses Musicales organisation.

Away from her sometimes restrictive formal studies, Meredi was influenced by the huge diversity of cultures and art present in Berlin. In 2020 she released her solo piano debut album Stardust, whose accolades include having been named one of BBC Music Magazine’s Top 10 post-classical albums that year. Stardust was followed by the ambient album Trance (2021) and Some Other Place (2022), a solo piano reimagining of Trance. Whether working alone or in collaboration with other artists, her music is inextricably associated with her need to express herself. “The piano was always my island or retreat,” she says, recalling the instrument on which she played her first notes. “It’s still more intuitive for me to speak through music than with words.”