Anahid Ajemian
| Anahid Marguerite Ajemian | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 26, 1924 Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | June 13, 2016 (aged 92) Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Associated acts | Maro Ajemian, The Composers Quartet |
Anahid Marguerite Ajemian (January 26, 1924 – June 13, 2016) was an American violinist of Armenian descent. Ajemian's career in contemporary music got its impetus from the desire to help young composers of her generation have their compositions performed. Additionally, she enjoyed performing the music of established contemporary performers. She included these composers with the traditional repertoire.
Ajemian was born in Manhattan on January 26, 1924. She began her music studies early at the Institute of Musical Art, which later merged with the Juilliard School. After graduating from the Lincoln School, Ajemian continued her education at the Juilliard School, studying violin with Edouard Dethier, chamber music with Hans Letz and Felix Salmon, and played in and with the Juilliard orchestra under Albert Stoessel and Edgar Shenkman.
In 1946, while still a student of Edouard Dethier at the Juillard Graduate School of Music, she won the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation Award. In the same year, she made her debut at Town Hall and received the Distinguished Achievement Medal from Mademoiselle magazine as the Young Woman of the Year in Music. Among the many honors that have followed, the Order of St. James appointed her a Knight of Malta for her lifelong support of contemporary classical music.
With her pianist sister Maro Ajemian, she performed in Europe, Canada and throughout the United States in a wide repertoire including works which were written for them by such distinguished composers as John Cage, Henry Cowell, Alan Hovhaness, Ernst Krenek, Lou Harrison, Wallingford Riegger, Carlos Surinach, and Ben Weber. Together and separately, the Ajemian sisters recorded extensively for Columbia, RCA Victor, MGM and Composers Records, Inc. They were the first musicians to receive the Laurel Leaf Award of the Composers Alliance for Distinguished Service to American Music.
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