Armen Shaomian, DMA, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina, where he combines his artistic talents and business savvy of his performing arts management background to develop and teach courses in live entertainment business, performing arts management, events promotion and family shows. He currently serves as the President of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA).

Prior work includes programs manager / associate producer for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) and its signature YoungArts program. In his role as their associate producer, Dr. Shaomian oversaw live performance logistics as well as strategic relations with the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as well as the United States Department of Education and the United States Presidential Scholars program. His work with the NFAA included cost analysis and contract negotiations, allowing the Foundation to save fiscally while raising the
quality of its programming.

Prior to his work with NFAA, Dr. Shaomian was the managing director of Cat 5 Music Publishing and assessment manager at the Office of Accreditation and Assessment at the University of Miami. He has also held the position of musical director of the critically acclaimed touring company of The Second City Theatre. Other entertainment work includes several voice-overs for Disney and Warner Bros. animations. In 2015, he was invited to perform a lecture-recital at the College Music Society’s International Conference in Stockholm and Helsinki. He has brought guest artists to visit his courses, including multi-Grammy and Academy Award winner Burt Bacharach, and Pulitzer Prize recipient William Bolcom, and vocalist Joan Morris. Dr. Shaomian frequently collaborates with arts organizations and the music business world to bring together leaders from the industry and students from the SPTE program.

Dr. Shaomian holds Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Accompanying and Chamber Music with cognates in Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, FL. He also holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Wayne State University, MI. For more information: www.armenize.com or @armenize