Mariam is a piano teacher, vocal coach, pre-school and K-8 Music Teacher with a love for empowering composition which reflects in her teaching style. Born in Iran of Armenian and Persian family heritage, her childhood and youth were split between Iran and Potomac, Maryland. Her educational background includes the study of piano, Italian opera and Armenian chorale while completing a BA in Special Education. After graduating, she became an inspiring piano teacher music teacher in the Armenian community in Tehran, acquiring several accolades for her award-winning children’s choir. She continued her passion for music here in the United States as a mezzo-soprano with the NJ State Opera Choir, teaching K-8 Music throughout many Catholic schools in Morris County and at the Hovnanian School in New Milford, New Jersey.

A student of the internationally known pianists Emmanuel Melik Aslanian and  Novin Afrouz, Iranian coloratura soprano Pari Zanganeh and the son of the renowned Armenian composer Tatool Altunyan, she studied piano since age 9, attending Master Classes in Lugano, Switzerland and experiencing teaching methodologies both in the States and her native Iran.  She has an innovative and student-centered approach to teaching, with a keen emphasis on inspiring creativity and composition.