“The fact that KSO audiences not only seem to accept innovative programing, but also find that they enjoy the experience of the very new when presented in the proper context, is a notable accomplishment of Maestro Demirjian.” —Arts Knoxville, February 2024
“Demirjian guided the orchestra in a lush performance of Rachmaninoff’s deeply romantic and melodic work that pulsates from the agitated opening passage to gorgeously lush strings that soar against the quiet rumble of timpani and muted horns. Demirjian made us hold our breath as the strings soared before bursting in a flurry of energy. […] Throughout the hourlong symphony, Demirjian balanced the energetic bursts with Rachmaninoff’s lush singing melodies including the familiar adagio that’s repeated a couple of times.” —Tuscon.com, February 2024
"For the audience who now understands the Symphony No. 4’s facade of simplicity that obscures the realities of life and death, there are sublime joys to be had with the proper orchestra and a true musical sculptor on the podium. Fortunately, that is the case with the KSO and Demirjian. This performance received the necessary loving poetic backbone of phrasing that projects gentleness, but one that supports the moments of dramatic outburst." —Arts Knoxville, January 2024
"Demirjian and the orchestra embraced [Clyne's] luscious, often cacophonous smushing of styles and rhythms that alternated with glee between tradition and the avant-garde. […] [Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony] arrived with Demirjian (conducting without a score) and the KSO at the Tennessee Theatre like a breath of fresh, country air... [with] the orchestra finding an ending that is something of a symbolic mirror to the beginning: ebullient, happy, and with the glow of accomplishment." —Arts Knoxville, October 2023
“Shaub, Demirjian, and orchestra embraced this “Turkish style” with confident relish and exuberance. […] the work depends on playfulness and spirit, a quality that Demirjian and the orchestra wove into a musical cloth of strength sans heaviness—a perfect recipe for an afternoon revelation.” —Arts Knoxville, September 2023
“Demirjian and the orchestra … rendered a crisp, clever, and energetic Eighth that had all the spicy tempo, subtle humor, and ingenuity that [Beethoven] intended.” —Arts Knoxville, May 2023
“The string textures and effects—both dreamlike, mellifluous bowing and jangled pizzicato—were beautifully handled by conductor Aram Demirjian and the ensemble. Their focus in embracing the changing moods and varying degrees of lyricism was nothing if not miraculous.” —Arts Knoxville, April 2023
“Demirjian and the orchestra offered up a performance that was every bit the satisfying expansive journey, complete with brief side trips along the way, through music of deep forest and sunlit clearings, making way for the occasional vistas that majestically appear through the trees… Demirjian managed the layers of theme on theme with skill, allowing the expectations to grow.” —Arts Knoxville, March 2023
“Kagawa and Demirjian took a beautifully introspective point of view with both a measured tempo and subtle dynamics, allowing the lyricism to flow elegantly rather than tumble… a lovely outing for Demirjian and the orchestra” —Arts Knoxville, March 2023
“Pouliot and Demirjian, building on their careful give and take throughout the piece, found a magic moment in the delivery of that finale—an accelerando on steroids, it seemed—in which orchestra and violinist each nudged the other faster and faster in tempo until the exhilaration was almost unbearably orgasmic. With this electric moment, I admit to a brief pang of quasi-schadenfreude for any KSO concertgoer who chose to sit out this concert.” —Arts Knoxville, February 2023
“Demirjian took an enjoyably energetic tempo in the opening Sinfonia, setting the stage for appropriately messaging the tempi throughout.” —Arts Knoxville, November 2022
“Demirjian and the orchestra turned in an excellent performance that was equal parts enthusiasm and a focused attention to instrumental balance and color” —Arts Knoxville, November 2022
“The key to the Grieg concerto in the 21st Century lies in finding a fresh point of view, and that is exactly what Albright and Demirjian did. […] Demirjian, conducting without a score, was obviously intent on giving the work freshness and intensity. And in fact, that is exactly what he achieved. Demirjian moved through the composer’s ideas, moods, and transitions between ideas, with an insistent painterly purpose, an attitude that resulted in the musical conversation between orchestra and audience being one of wit, intellect, and sonic surprises.” —Arts Knoxville, September 2022
“a superb performance by Demirjian and the orchestra with a rich sense of texture and an ever-moving palette of dynamics” —Arts Knoxville, March 2022
“the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Aram Demirjian […] have not only been adding contemporary women composers to their programs, but are also bringing deserving composers like Farrenc—and their large scale works—to the attention of 21st Century audiences.” —Arts Knoxville, February 2022
“Demirjian and the orchestra radiated lyrical warmth” —Arts Knoxville, January 2022
“the entire evening […] was a musical feast of epic proportions that was probably as creatively exhilarating for the audience as it obviously was for Demirjian and the orchestra. […] Demirjian skillfully stirred the cauldron” —Arts Knoxville, October 2021
“This stunningly articulate performance of the “Titan” clearly won over any potential skeptics with its strong point of view in which the expansiveness was modulated with thematic intrigues and clever punctuations in texture, cadence, and dynamics. The symphony’s themes, drawn in large part from folk songs and the composer’s own “Songs of a Wayfarer”, are also responsible for the work’s accessibility, keeping the work tethered to earth and gently, but firmly, guiding the listener.” —Arts Knoxville, January 2020
“It’s only natural, then, that maestro Demirjian feels an affection for the Beethoven Seventh, an emotion obviously shared by the orchestra players, and one that vigorously set the stage for what was one of the most dynamically sublime and nuanced performances that I have witnessed from the orchestra to date. Part of that affection displayed was the belief in energetic tempos and a crisp rhythmic drive that sets off the clever conversational banter, exquisitely accomplished with terrific ensemble-ness between the woodwinds, and supported by a similarly enchanting layering of string textures.” —Arts Knoxville, November 2019
“The string honey of the afternoon came from Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings […] Demirjian immediately made it clear this was not to be a contemplative reading, but instead one of energy and tonal depth that made use of the rich string sonority built majestically in the most positive way. While the orchestra’s performance of the Elégie movement was hauntingly emotional, the return of Tchaikovsky’s opening theme in the finale felt pivotal—the essence of the successful unifying dramatic denouement that artists and musicians strive for, but few ever achieve.” —Arts Knoxville, October 2019
“If works of music were living human beings, they would no doubt be nervous, if not outright frightened, to be paired on a concert with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Yet, the pairing of contemporary works with Beethoven’s brilliantly majestic and epic final symphony has become a fairly common occurrence for 21st Century orchestras, and for probably sound programming reasons. That was the wildly successful approach taken by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s music director Aram Demirjian in this weekend’s Masterworks concerts in which the evening’s works were stylistic opposites by their sonic appearances, but were bound together by a philosophical theme, one that is inarguably relevant to the contemporary world […] On this occasion of the Ninth, the KSO gave the audience what they came for—a feast of emotions and well-played performances across the orchestra. Demirjian built the excitement gradually on Friday evening, extracting warmth and dramatic details in the first two movements with a careful ear for expressive dynamics. The third movement, Adagio, was simply sublime in the emerging details and vibrant personality.” —Arts Knoxville, April 2019