Maro Ajemian music during the 1940s, presenting annual concerts in such high-profile venues as Town Hall. These concerts were well reviewed by such critics as Lou Harrison, Virgil Thomson, and Olin Downes, and served to launch Hovhaness into the national spotlight. She died of heart valve failure at the age of 57. Maro Ajemian Maro Ajemian (July 9, 1921 – September 18, 1978) was an American pianist. Ajemian's career in contemporary music grew 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 their
Hieromonk Roman Hieromonk Roman Hieromonk Roman (, secular name Alexander Ivanovich Matyushin, ; born November 16, 1954, village Ryabchovsk, Trubchevsky District, Bryansk Oblast) is a Russian poet, singer-songwriter and hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church. Alexander was born into a family of rural teachers. He graduated from the Philology Department at the University of Elista, then worked as a school teacher. In 1983 he was tonsured monk in the Pskov-Caves Monastery. In 1985, he was ordained. He served in the parishes of the Bryansk Oblast and in Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Alexander began writing poetry in his youth. He published 19 books of