Soundings by Blair McMillen

While at Juilliard he won the Gina Bachauer International Competition and the Sony ES Career Grant for Musical Excellence, a career-advancement award given to outstanding Juilliard musicians. He is a past winner of the National Young Artists Competition and the Time-Warner Prize at the Aspen Music Festival, where he held a performance fellowship for three years.

A dedicated chamber musician, Mr. McMillen has performed at the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, with tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, the New York Woodwind Quintet, and with members of the Brentano, American, and Flux String Quartets. He has also appeared with the Eos Orchestra, the Avian Orchestra, the Amelia Piano Trio/"East Meets West," Prism, Jose Limon Dance Company, the Locrian Chamber Players, and the New Juilliard Ensemble, among others. He was recently named pianist for the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players, and traveled twice with them to Russia for concerts and workshops in 2003.

Blair McMillen is equally at home in both new and traditional repertoire. He is a founding member of the New York-based composer/performer collective counter)induction, which was recently awarded a CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and was a featured ensemble at the 2004 "Music at the Anthology" Festival. Mr. McMillen recently commissioned and gave the New York premiere of Jon Magnussen's "Toccare" with the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. In February 2004, he performed a solo recital on Miller Theatre's groundbreaking "Piano Revolution" series, juxtaposing seldom-heard piano music of Giacinto Scelsi and Luciano Berio to rave reviews.

Blair McMillen's principal teachers have included Jerome Lowenthal, Byron Janis, Joseph Kalichstein, and Robert McDonald. He has taught at Oberlin College, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Bloomingdale School of Music. His solo CD "Soundings," featuring the music of Liszt, Scriabin, Copland, and Debussy, was released in 2004. Other recordings include Koch International, CRI, Connoisseur Society, New World, and BMG/Catalyst.

For booking and updated information, please visit www.blairmcmillen.com.

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