Maro Ajemian

Who was Maro Ajemian?

Maro Ajemian was an American pianist. Ajemian's career in contemporary music got its impetus from her Armenian heritage; she became known as a contemporary pianist after performing the U.S. premiere of Aram Khachaturian's Piano Concerto, which she chose to play based on the fact that Khachaturian was Armenian.

Ajemian studied at the Juilliard School of Music. On March 14, 1942, she gave the American premiere of Aram Khachaturian's Piano Concerto in D flat with the Juilliard Graduate Orchestra under Albert Stoessel. She later performed the piece on a cross-country tour. Following her performances of the Piano Concerto, she 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, Henry Cowell, Ernst Krenek, Lou Harrison, and Gunther Schuller.

Cage dedicated his Sonatas and Interludes to her and she made the first recording of that piece.