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Blair McMillen has established himself
as one of the most versatile and sought-after young pianists today.
The New York Times has called his playing "lustrous," "riveting," and "brilliant.....prodigiously
accomplished and exciting." Known for imaginative and daring programming,
he plays a repertoire that spans from late-medieval keyboard manuscripts
to today's up-and-coming younger generation of composers.
Recent appearances include Miller Theatre's 15th-anniversary "Piano Revolution" recital
series, the Moscow Conservatory, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Concerten Tot
en Met (Amsterdam), Harvard University, CalArts, Caramoor, Casals Hall (Tokyo),
and Carnegie's Zankel Hall. Recent solo programs have included performances of
selections from the Codex Faenza (penned in the early 1400's), a New York recital
of music inspired by the art of improvisation, and the U.S. premieres of solo
pieces by Frederic Rzewski and Giacinto Scelsi. During the 2005-06 season, Mr.
McMillen made his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist under the baton of David Robertson.
Dedicated to new and groundbreaking projects, Blair McMillen is committed to
performing the music of today. A founding member of the performer/composer
collective counter)induction, and pianist for the Naumburg Award-winning
Da Capo Chamber Players; he also plays regularly with the downtown NYC-based
Avian Music and the American Modern Ensemble. He was a member of the Aspen
Contemporary Ensemble for three summers, and gave the premieres of numerous
works with this ensemble. Mr. McMillen has worked closely with many composers;
including Lee Hyla, John Harbison, George Crumb, Annie Gosfield, Eric Moe,
Joan Tower, George Perle, Thomas Ades, and Ned Rorem, among many others.
A self-taught jazz pianist, he is regularly involved in improvisation projects
ranging from the straight-ahead to the avant-garde.
As soloist and collaborator, Mr. McMillen has performed at the Lincoln Center
Chamber Music Society, with the American Symphony Orchestra, tenor Anthony
Dean Griffey, soprano Lucy Shelton, clarinetist David Krakauer, the New York
Woodwind Quintet, and with members of the Brentano, Colorado, and Flux String
Quartets. He has also appeared with the Locrian Chamber Players, Concordia
Chamber Players, Quintet of the Americas, American Ballet Theatre (piano concerto
and solo appearances), the Jose Limon Dance Company, and the New Juilliard
Ensemble.
A native of Charlotte NC, Mr. McMillen holds degrees from Oberlin College,
Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School. While at Juilliard, he
won the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and received the Sony
ES Career Grant for Musical Excellence, a career-advancement award. He was
the only unanimously-chosen winner in the forty-year history of the National
Young Artists Competition, and he was a winner of the Time-Warner Award at
the Aspen Music Festival. Mr. McMillen's teachers have included Jerome Lowenthal,
Byron Janis, Joseph Kalichstein, and Robert McDonald.
A solo CD "Soundings;" featuring the works of Liszt, Scriabin, Debussy,
Copland, and Bolcom; was released to rave reviews in 2004. Blair McMillen has
several recordings of solo material being released in 2007-08: The Complete
Keyboard Music of Esa-Pekka Salonen on Bridge Records, Concert Music of Fred
Hersch on Naxos, and a multi-composer recording of solo piano music (b. 1938...)
for Centaur. Mr. McMillen resides in New York City and serves on the piano
faculty at Bard College. |
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