Beatrice Ohanessian

Beatrice Ohanessian (March 15, 1927 – July 17, 2008) was an Iraqi-Armenian pianist, notable for being Iraq's first concert pianist and first female composer.

Biography

Early life and education Ohanessian was born in Baghdad in 1927 to a well-to-do Armenian family. Her father, born in Persia, had settled in Baghdad after a time in India working with the British. Her mother and two uncles were orphaned survivors of the Armenian genocide. Both parents encouraged her to study music. Upon graduating, she served as an assistant to her Romanian piano professor, Julien Hertz. An Iraqi governmental scholarship allowed her to further her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with professor Max Pirani. She was presented with a Steinway grand piano, which she left behind as she settled in the United States after the first Gulf War. The spring before she died, the piano, which had been kept safe by one of her friends in the Iraqi National Symphony, finally arrived in Minnesota, stuffed with several of her evening gowns.

Later life and death In 1994, Ohanessian moved permanently to the United States, settling in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, joining her brother, Arsham, and sister, Sita. She again began teaching at the University of Minnesota, Macalester College, as well as the University of St. Thomas. She served as the organist for the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Paul . Ohanessian died of cancer on July 17, 2008, in Bloomington, at the age of 81.