Michelle Ekizian is an American composer of Armenian

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 heritage.

Life

Michelle Ekizian was born in Bronxville, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Manhattan School of Music

Manhattan School of Music

The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...

 and a master's degree from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, having studied with Chou Wen-chung

Chou Wen-chung

Chou Wen-chung , Shandong, China) is a Chinese American composer of contemporary classical music. He emigrated in 1946 to the United States where he lives.-Life:...

, Mario Davidovsky

Mario Davidovsky

Mario Davidovsky is an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the US, where he lives today...

, Nicolas Flagello

Nicolas Flagello

Nicolas Flagello , was an American composer of classical music.Flagello was born in New York City, into a very musical family. His brother Ezio Flagello was a bass who sang at the Metropolitan Opera. One of his first music teachers was the composer Vittorio Giannini, and he then studied at the...

 and Vladimir Ussachevsky

Vladimir Ussachevsky

Vladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...

. Her music has been performed internationally.

Honors and awards

• American Prix de Rome
  Prix de Rome
  The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
  
   from the American Academy in Rome
  Rome
  Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
  
  , 1988
• Commerce Bank International Composition Award, 1987
• Indiana State University/Louisville Orchestra New Music Competition Prize, 1990
• Aram Khachaturian Award
• ACA Recording Award
• John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
  
   fellowship
• National Endowment for the Arts
  National Endowment for the Arts
  The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
  
  fellowship

Works

Selected works include:

• Octoéchos for Double String Quartet and Soprano
• The Exiled Heart orchestral cycle, including The Exiled Heart (1986), Morning of Light (1988), and Beyond the Reach of Wind and Fire (1989)
• Symphony #1: When Light Divided
• Slow Apocolypse: Fanfare for Orchestra Manque, 1995
• A Saint Gregory Moment
• David of Sassoun, 1992
• Sabre Dances for orchestra, 1991
• Red Harvest: Concerto for violin and orchestra

Her music has been recorded and issued on CD, including:

• Works by Michelle Ekizian and Louis Karchin, New World Records
• American Academy in Rome spring concert, 1989 June 5