By Karen Chambless

Knar Abrahamyan, a 2014 Lee graduate, was recently awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student award for the 2015-16 school year.

Abrahamyan will spend the academic year in Moscow, Russia. Her research will focus on the history of Russian music theory traditions and include comparative study of Soviet composers Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich. She will work with two of the leading professors at Moscow Conservatory, Tatiana Kyuregyan and Ekaterina Vlasova.

Abrahamyan is currently working on her master’s degree in music theory from Indiana University and will graduate in August 2015. Upon returning from her research in Russia, she plans to pursue a doctorate in music theory at Yale University using her Fulbright research as a basis for her dissertation.

“I am extremely grateful to my professors, family, and friends who supported and encouraged me during the long process of applying for the Fulbright,” said Abrahamyan. “With this opportunity, I am hoping to produce a synthesized analytical approach for deciphering political metaphors in music and adding a compelling fresh perspective to the extant English-language scholarship on Russian opera. The mentorship I continue to receive from professors at Lee has been very inspiring.”

While at Lee, Abrahamyan was a piano student of Assistant Professor of Music Ning An. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance, as well as a bachelor’s degree in communications with advertising emphasis. In music theory, she was mentored by Associate Professor of Music Dr. Austin Patty and served as a staff member for Lee’s annual Piano Festival. She also tutored music students, accompanied instrumentalists, and worked as a graphic design intern for the Office of Publications.

For more information about Lee’s School of Music, call (423) 614-8240.

For more information about the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, visit us.fulbrightonline.org/.