Elmira Azadeh Coleman

1956 - 2019
Elmira Azadeh Coleman: Concert Pianist, Teacher, dies at 62
On the night of 11 February 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Elmira Azadeh Coleman passed peacefully from this life into the next, while her loving family held her hands.

Elmira, first child and only daughter to Tayeb Azadeh and Leyla Azadeh (neé Ghorbani-Monhasser), was born on 19 March 1956 in Rasht, Iran, during the celebration of the Persian New Year, Norooz. Early in life, her parents fostered her precocious talent for the piano. At the age of 5, Elmira made her recital debut on television. During her childhood, she went to Jeanne d'Arc, a French Catholic School for Young Ladies. She showed an affinity for languages and grew up speaking Persian, Russian, and Turkish with her parents; and then learned French, German, and English. At the age of 13, the Minister of Cultural Arts granted her a scholarship to study at the Vienna Academy of Music in Austria- to that date, the youngest woman to be honored in such fashion.

As an adolescent, Elmira performed in numerous piano competitions throughout Europe, while also teaching at the Vienna Academy of Music. She was the piano accompanist for the Tehran ballet company and played in symphony performances, several as the piano soloist. She balanced her love music with a love of reading, and voraciously consumed the novels of Victor Hugo, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

In 1979, Elmira and her family immigrated to the United States. While at Manhattanville College, she met her husband, Stuart Prickett Coleman , who was also pursuing a degree in music. Their courtship led to marriage in 1980.

Stuart and Elmira were married for 34 years until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2014. They raised their only daughter, Leyla, in Mount Vernon, New York, before moving to the pastoral town of Orange, Connecticut.

Elmira gradually transitioned from concert pianist to private instructor, which allowed her quality time with her daughter. Her students greatly benefited from her experience, gentleness, and constant encouragement. She was amongst the best with the Suzuki Method and arranged many recitals for her students.

While living in Orange, she pursued other interests in addition to art, music, decorating, and fashion. Her house was situated next to a corn field, and she used the one acre of backyard to plant and prune roses and other flowers.

Elmira had a special love for babies, small children, as well as animals, and particularly whales. She expressed her love for others in many forms, whether by participating in the homeless outreach program "Midnight Run", or by cooking excellent food for her family and friends. In June of 2018, Elmira discovered she had esophageal cancer. She fought it bravely with chemotherapy and directed proton radiation, but these treatments ultimately failed to cure her. Her family and friends will dearly miss Elmira and remember only the best essence of her, not the past year. She is survived by her daughter, Leyla Catherine Azadeh Coleman, her mother, aunt, and two brothers.