Maria Abajan – Armenian American dramatic soprano, pursues her international career as a free-lance artist in the operatic world of essentially Europe and South America. She is best identified with the roles of Italian heroines in operas by Puccini, Verdi, Bellini, Mascagni, Cilea, Catalani, Boito and Poncielli.
Maria Abajan was born in Yerevan, Armenia. Upon completion of her A-Level education, she was admitted to the Komitas State Conservatory of Music in Yerevan. There she mastered her singing technique under the tutelage of Mrs. Goulabian, a prominent vocal teacher in the country, and completed the required subjects in the music curriculum of this conservatory.
Among the many prizes Maria earned as a student was a scholarship to the famous Santa Cecilia Academy of Rome. Subsequently, Maria accompanied her parents to Los Angeles, California, where they established their residence. She was immediately admitted into the opera program of the world-renowned Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
During her student years in U.S.A. Maria participated in national auditions and was awarded first prize in the Western USA Regional auditions of the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Merola Program in San Francisco, and the Loren L. Zachary Society for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. The latter also offered her a two-year contract at the Augsburg Opera House. Two other awards, Concorso International di Mario del Monaco, Italy, and Concorso International St. Louise Potosi, Mexico, preceded her contract with the Manheim Opera House. Throughout her four years at this opera house she sang leading soprano roles of Italian masters.
Home for a brief period in Los Angeles, Maria sang the role of Cio Cio-San, Madama Butterfly, for the Los Angeles Opera Company. The music critic of Los Angeles Times at the time, Albert Goldberg, wrote the following about her performance: “The Abajan soprano is large, healthy and unfettered … it can grasp and float a tendril of Puccinian melody with velvety tenderness — well-trained brain… temperamental and emotional impulses induce an instant audience response.”