Aram Demirjian '08 Assistant Conductor, Kansas City Symphony conductor, cellist, singer, political junkie, football fan   Music concentrator because: When I entered Harvard, music was a huge part of my life -- but not what I meant to pursue professionally. I was active as a cellist and a singer, and even as a freshman, I had my sights set on taking advantage of the many conducting opportunities on campus. But at that point, I was intent on being a Government concentrator and eventually working in Washington, DC. And for about two-and-a-half years, that was the path that I followed, even interning in DC one summer with then-Senator, now-Secretary of State John Kerry. Despite all of the politics, however, music was still the center of my existence. I sang in UChoir and the Choral Fellows, played in HRO, and landed my first conducting opportunity with the G&S Players. I even took all the classes a music concentrator would have taken -- probably because subconsciously I knew there was always that chance that music would eventually be my concentration. Then, late in my sophomore year, I won the audition to be music director of the Bach Society Orchestra, and that's when my professional ambitions really started to shift. Conducting BachSoc quickly became like a full time job - it was my most important commitment (admittedly, even more so than my classes), both by choice and by necessity. I loved being a conductor, helping to run an orchestra, and all the responsibilities therein. I soon realized that conducting was my calling. (As Prof. Tom Kelly told me, "We don't choose music - it chooses us.") At that point, I officially switched to a joint concentration in Music and Government, both so that I would have greater flexibility to take more music classes, but also to strengthen my resume for grad school applications, since I knew some would question why I did not attend a conservatory for undergrad. In the years that followed, I did a Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting at NEC (studying with another Harvard alum, Hugh Wolff '75), and in 2012, I won the position of Assistant Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony. Current job: My primary responsibilities with the Kansas City Symphony are conducting the Pops, Family, Education and Outreach concerts, and covering all Classical Series concerts. I also conduct a series called "Classics Uncorked," which is a happy hour series designed to present significant works from the symphonic repertoire to new audiences in a casual setting (complete with drinks and socializing). It's a wonderful organization, with a superb artistic staff and phenomenal musicians with whom it is a pleasure to collaborate. My job is particularly great because of the amount of time I get to spend on the podium. I actually conduct as many concerts in a season as the music director (yet another Harvard alum, Michael Stern '81) conducts. The way music fits into that: I think it's pretty self-evident the way music fits into my job! My extracurricular activities at Harvard, particularly conducting BachSoc, were the best imaginable hands-on preparation for life as a professional conductor. Much of what I do in my job - conducting, creating rehearsal schedules, programming, budgeting, and working with an artistic staff -- is basically a larger-scale, higher-stakes version of what I did as music director of BachSoc. And my training in the Harvard Music Department prepared me for becoming a conductor better than I could have ever predicted as an undergrad, especially the theory classes. It sounds cliche, but all of that work -- playing and analyzing Bach chorale upon Bach chorale, endless form and harmony exercises, and ear training practice -- really pays off. Life as an assistant conductor is largely a test of endurance. In any given week I have at least two different programs to study, in addition to whatever I am actually currently rehearsing, so efficiency is my best friend. I fall back on the basic skills and musical tools I learned at Harvard so frequently on a day-to-day basis that I'm not even conscious of it anymore. Aram's website: www.aram-demirjian.com Kansas City Symphony website: www.kcsymphony.org BACK TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES