Maro Ajemian (July 9, 1921 – September 18, 1978) was an American pianist. Ajemian's career in contemporary music grew from her

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

heritage. She became known as a contemporary pianist after performing the U.S. premiere of

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenia ...

's Piano Concerto, which she chose to play based on their shared Armenian heritage. Ajemian studied at the Juilliard School of Music. On March 14, 1942, she gave the American premiere of

's Piano Concerto in D flat with the Juilliard Graduate Orchestra under

Albert Stoessel Albert Frederic Stoessel (October 11, 1894 – May 12, 1943) was an American composer, violinist and conductor. Biography He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule as a pupil of Emanuel Wirth and ...

. She later performed the piece on a cross-country tour. Following her performances of the Piano Concerto, Ajemian began meeting contemporary composers and, together with her sister, the violinist Anahid Ajemian, she became known as a champion of new music, presenting the premieres of many new works by American composers. Among these were John Cage,

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American- Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) a ...

, Henry Cowell,

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

, and

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

. Cage dedicated his ''

Sonatas and Interludes ''Sonatas and Interludes'' is a cycle of twenty pieces for prepared piano by American avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992). It was composed in 1946–48, shortly after Cage's introduction to Indian philosophy and the teachings of art hist ...

'' to her and she made the first recording of them for Dial Records in 1951. Ajemian was particularly fond of the music of Hovhaness, a fellow Armenian American, and co-founded a New York City-based organization, the Friends of Armenian Music Committee, which promoted his music during the 1940s, presenting annual concerts in such high-profile venues as Town Hall. These concerts were well reviewed by such critics as

Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...

, and

Olin Downes Edwin Olin Downes, better known as Olin Downes (January 27, 1886 – August 22, 1955), was an American music critic, known as "Sibelius's Apostle" for his championship of the music of Jean Sibelius. As critic of ''The New York Times'', he ex ...

, and served to launch Hovhaness into the national spotlight. She died of

heart valve A heart valve is a one-way valve that allows blood to flow in one direction through the chambers of the heart. Four valves are usually present in a mammalian heart and together they determine the pathway of blood flow through the heart. A heart ...

failure at the age of 57.

References

1921 births 1978 deaths Juilliard School alumni American women classical pianists American classical pianists American musicians of Armenian descent Contemporary classical music performers Place of birth missing 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century American pianists {{US-classical-pianist-stub