Winner of the 2020 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award from The Solti Foundation U.S., conductor Aram Demirjian has built a reputation as an insightful interpreter of the symphonic repertoire and drawn praise for his “rejuvenating” (Washington Post) leadership as Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO). Widely considered an engaging, “even electric” (San Francisco Classical Voice) presence on the podium, he is sought after for his “graceful, energetic direction” (Sarasota Herald Tribune), dynamic programs that broaden the idea of what one can expect to see on the symphonic stage, and distinctive ability to speak to, cultivate, and connect with audiences.

As the eighth Music Director of the KSO, Aram has led the orchestra to new artistic heights and national distinction for its achievements. A devoted champion of American music, Aram has grown the ensemble’s repertoire through bold programming with broad audience appeal, particularly emphasizing music by living composers, artists from underrepresented groups, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Under his leadership, the KSO was selected in 2020 as one of four orchestras to be featured at SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras, presented by The Kennedy Center and Washington Performing Arts. In 2022, Aram and the KSO were featured on the PBS show Craft in America, which profiled the creation of Michael Schachter’s Violin Concerto: Cycle of Life, a joint commission by the KSO and Knoxville Museum of Art, premiered by Tessa Lark and inspired by the work of East Tennessee glass artist Richard Jolley. The KSO is also a regular presence on the nationally-renowned Big Ears Festival.

Noteworthy upcoming projects in the 2024/25 season and beyond include a KSO-commissioned concerto for West African drums and orchestra by Derrick Skye, featuring the Knoxville-based drum ensemble Indigenous Vibes; Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream featuring Appalachian Ballet Company; participation in the League of American Orchestra’s Toulmin Orchestral Commissions Program for the second time; and large scale works including Mahler's Fifth and Carmina burana.

With his notable passion for oratorio repertoire, Aram is increasingly in demand for his interpretation of Handel's Messiah, which he has led in recent years in Knoxville and as guest conductor with the Kansas City Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and forthcoming in December 2024 with the Seattle Symphony, where he makes his debut. Further guest conducting engagements in the 24/25 calendar include a debut with the Utah Symphony on the Deer Valley Music Festival, subscription debuts with The Florida Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and Billings Symphony, and a concert presented by WNYC and St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park celebrating WNYC’s centennial.

Other guest conducting highlights in recent seasons include a debut with the San Diego Symphony where he drew praise for “his majestic but rigorously detailed account of [Beethoven's] Fifth Symphony” (San Diego Story), frequent collaborations with The Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as appearances with the symphonies of Colorado, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Nashville, North Carolina, Omaha, Portland, San Jose, Santa Rosa, St. Louis, and Tucson; the Louisiana and Orlando philharmonics; the Minnesota and Sarasota orchestras; plus festival appearances at the Big Ears Festival, Breckenridge Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and Tanglewood Music Center’s Festival of Contemporary Music. Internationally, Aram has conducted the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and Orchéstre Métropolitain de Montréal. Aram also has had the great pleasure of mentoring future generations of young musicians through work with the New England Conservatory Symphony, Massachusetts All State Orchestra, Mostly Modern Festival Orchestra, and as a clinician and guest lecturer at numerous colleges, conservatories, and grade schools in the cities that have been his professional homes.

Speaking from the stage at his first concert as KSO Music Director, Aram made a promise to the audience that the KSO would “bring the music out to the community and the spirit of Knoxville into the concert hall,” and he has lived up to that commitment through a series of acclaimed, distinctive artistic collaborations within the community. Recent highlights have included a fully-staged production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide with Clarence Brown Theatre; choreographed performances of Manuel da Falla’s El Amor Brujo with Appalachian Ballet Company; annual free site-integrated chamber music performances at the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum; and performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony incorporating an ensemble from Tennessee School for the Deaf performing the Ode to Joy in American Sign Language. Early in his tenure, Aram instituted KSO: UnStaged, a series of experiential, multi-sensory events in nontraditional settings around Knoxville, co-curated by partners including craft breweries, yoga studios, and even an airplane manufacturing company.

Throughout his career, Aram has worked with internationally renowned conductors Sir Andrew Davis, Stéphane Denève, Alan Gilbert, Bernard Haitink, Manfred Honeck, Louis Langrée, Fabio Luisi, Kurt Masur, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Antonio Pappano, and collaborated with an illustrious roster of artists including Julia Bullock, Michelle Cann, Lara Downs, Augustin Hadelich, Stefan Jackiw, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Nicholas Phan, Jason Vieaux, and Joyce Yang. At ease with a breadth of musical vocabularies, Aram has also performed with an eclectic assortment of artists from other genres, including Ben Folds, Bill Frisell, Shabaka Hutchings, John Lithgow, Aoife O'Donovan, Shara Nova, and Bobby Watson.

In addition to being honored with the 2020 Solti Award, Aram also received the 2017 and 2019 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards; a 2018 Solti Foundation U.S. Buccheri Opera Residency with Lyric Opera of Chicago; and the 2011 Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize from the Aspen Music Festival, where he was a three-time Conducting Fellow in the Aspen Conducting Academy. From 2012 to 2016, he served as Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony.

The proud child of an immigrant family, Aram is American-born and of Armenian descent. He holds a joint Bachelor of Arts in Music and Government from Harvard University, and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from New England Conservatory. A native of the Boston area, he currently resides in Knoxville with his wife, Caraline, their baby daughter, Ani, and their goldendoodle, Kermit.