New England Conservatory Appoints Chair of String and Piano Chamber Music

Violinist and violist Ara Gregorian will assume the role in the Fall of 2024

Ara Gregorian will join the faculty of the New England Conservatory (NEC) as its Chair of String and Piano Chamber Music in September 2024. In the role, he will provide artistic and administrative direction for the program, plus mentor and prepare students toward impactful music careers.

Gregorian joins predecessors of the position Scott Nickrenz, Roger Tapping, Lucy Chapman, and Merry Peckham, as well as the interim co-chairs Kitchen and Kim of the Borromeo String Quartet—NEC’s faculty quartet in residence.

Since making his New York recital debut at the Weill Recital Hall and his solo debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Gregorian has performed throughout America, as well as in Canada, Hong Kong, China, Mongolia, Israel, and Finland.

The founder of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and a faculty member of the Taos School of Music, Gregorian is currently the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Distinguished Professor in Music at East Carolina University, where he has been on the violin/viola/chamber music faculty since 1998. 

A member of the Cooperstown Quartet, he has also performed extensively with Concertante and the Daedalus Quartet, and recorded for National Public Radio, New York’s WQXR, and the Bridge and Kleos labels. 

Gregorian performs on a 1690 Francesco Ruggeri violin and a Grubaugh and Seifert viola from 2006.

"I am honored to join the faculty at New England Conservatory, and look forward to collaborating with the students, my colleagues, and all across the NEC community to continue NEC's tradition of chamber music excellence,” Gregorian said in the press release. 

“I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Ara Gregorian as the Chair of String and Piano Chamber Music,” said NEC’s Provost Benjamin Sosland. “His unwavering commitment to working with aspiring chamber musicians and his profound understanding of music education ensures he will serve as an exemplary leader, guiding our program to new levels of success and inspiring future generations of musicians.”

“Ara’s exceptional virtuosity as both a soloist and chamber music performer, coupled with his visionary leadership, has created a dynamic platform for collaboration among faculty and students,” added interim co-chairs Nicholas Kitchen and Yeesun Kim. “His appointment promises to continue the esteemed tradition of NEC’s Chamber Music.”

Founded in 1867, Boston’s NEC offers music students from over 40 countries with top performance opportunities from 225 internationally acclaimed artist-teachers and scholars, which have since included members of the Cleveland Quartet, Mendelssohn Quartet, The Weilerstein Trio, Vermeer Quartet, and Cavani String Quartets.