The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
June 17, 2004 Thursday
MaryAnn’s music makers;
Awards to honor students in memory of lover of the arts
By MERRY FIRSCHEIN, STAFF WRITER, North Jersey Media Group
PARAMUS
Orthodontist Robert V. Kinoian loves music and art. He also loved his
wife, MaryAnn, who died of breast cancer four years ago. So Kinoian,
a classical guitarist who has played at Carnegie Recital Hall, has
created The MaryAnn Kinoian Memorial Scholarship Fund to reward
children in their music and art studies.
On Monday, six children – two each from Ridge Ranch Elementary
School, East Brook Middle School, and West Brook Middle School – will
receive small monetary prizes meant as a pat on the back for their
hard work.
“The award says, ‘Look, you’re interested in music and this is
something that has value. People are recognizing your ability, and
it’s worth pursuing,’-” said Kinoian. “They might say, ‘Maybe I
should keep up with this, because someone did recognize me.’-”
MaryAnn Kinoian waged a 10-year battle with breast cancer and
succumbed in September 2000 at age 45. Robert Kinoian is now raising
their daughter, Lucine, who is 14..
MaryAnn was a nurse administrator and operating room supervisor and
instructor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City
and in New Jersey at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
When MaryAnn was in high school, she played the violin for the
all-state orchestra in New York. And she was the chairwoman of the
art exposure program at Ridge Ranch from 1995 to 1999, when Lucine
was a student there.
“We would have posters of pieces of fine art, either paintings or
sculpture,” Kinoian said. “We would write up the background on the
paintings and give questions to the parents to ask the kids.”
Robert Kinoian is a classical guitarist who studied with Andres
Segovia, an innovator of the modern classical guitar. Kinoian has
performed at Carnegie Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall. By his
late 20s, he changed careers and became a dentist. He still plays the
guitar.
“I started at 8 years old,” he said. “I remember seeing the Beatles
in 1964. I always wanted to play guitar. There are even photos of me
with a toy guitar.”
When MaryAnn died, Robert Kinoian came up with a way to honor her. “I
thought it would be nice to give a little prize to children who
showed an interest in music and art,” he said. “In the spring of
2001, I approached [Ridge Ranch Principal] Meryl Barrett with the
idea. She was very pleased and enthusiastic about it.”
Administrators at each school choose the children, usually graduating
students, who will receive the award. Their names are kept secret
until the graduation ceremony, when Kinoian presents each child with
a plaque and a check.
“The child must be someone who has excelled in music and someone who
has excelled in art, and showing enthusiasm for these subjects,”
Kinoian said. Ridge Ranch students receive $50 and the middle school
children receive a $75 check.
Kinoian also gives a small award to two students at the Sunday school
of his church, St. Leon’s Armenian Church in Fair Lawn.
Kinoian’s goal is to distribute prizes to children in each of the
district’s elementary schools and middle schools. Currently, he funds
the awards himself. He hopes in the future to use money given in
honor of his wife.
“My main thrust is to support the younger children, to encourage them
that this is a worthwhile pursuit even if it doesn’t turn out to be
their career,” he said.
An award like this, even such a small one, is so important, Kinoian
said. “There seems to be so little support for the arts in financial
support from the government,” he explained. “We don’t see a lot of
art or music programs in schools. It’s peripheral.
“I always had a love for music,” he said. “It’s been such an integral
and important part of my life, I want to support children who have
those feelings, too.”
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, CARMINE GALASSO, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER – Robert V.
Kinoian, shown in his orthodontics office in Paramus, is honoring the
memory of his wife by rewarding children who excel in music and the arts.