Harper College will be closed Friday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day.
ctashjia@harpercollege.edu
847.925-6000 Ext. 7223
Building P, Room P209
Charmian Tashjian is a composer who has received awards and commissions for her compositions for instrumental, vocal, and mixed chamber ensembles, as well as for orchestral, choral, and electronic media. Her compositions have been performed in concerts and on radio broadcasts throughout the United States and abroad by various musical organizations, including the Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Symphony II, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the DuPage Youth Symphony, and many others. Dr. Tashjian currently teaches music literature and various humanities courses at Harper and at the College of Lake County. She has taught classes ranging from music theory and aural skills to music composition, acoustics, music appreciation, fundamentals of music, courses on contemporary art and music and about creative women in the arts, among other subjects, at Harper, DePaul University, Columbia College, Northwestern University, Lake Forest College, and through the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music.
She earned her doctoral and bachelor’s degrees from Northwestern University and her master’s degree from Stanford University, majoring in music theory and composition with a minor in the humanities. She was a founding and Board member of American Women Composers, Midwest, an organization active from 1982 to 2000 that promoted music by American and international female composers of the past and present through concerts and educational outreach programs. AWC Midwest received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, and many cultural institutions, corporations, foundations, and individuals. The organization collaborated with Chicago- and Midwest-area musical and cultural organizations including the Chicago Symphony, Symphony II, the Ravinia Festival, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Chicago Public Library, the Chicago History Museum, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Pro Musica, the Illinois Philharmonic, the Minneapolis New Music Ensemble, along with many Chicago-area universities, and other organizations. Her music has been published and recorded commercially, and her biography is included in the International Who's Who in Music, Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, and the Encyclopedia of Women Composers.