Acclaimed by Fanfare as “an exemplar of the modern global pianist”, celebrated Australian pianist VIVIAN CHOI MILTON is in demand for the depth of her musical insight of a wide-ranging repertoire, from classical to contemporary works, presented in thoughtful and imaginative programs.
Since her debut performance at the Sydney Opera House’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Vivian has toured extensively throughout Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America, and Asia. Highlights of Vivian’s recent concerto appearances include the world premiere of Kate Moore’s Piano Concerto “Beatrice” in Australia which was nominated as a finalist for the 2020 APRA AMCOS Art Music Award’s Work of the Year in the Large Ensemble category, and performances with the Grammy Award®-winning Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Her recital debut at the Sydney Opera House was broadcast nationally, and in recent seasons she has appeared as a recitalist at the Glazunov Hall, Rimski-Korsakov Museum, and Anna Akhmatova Museum in Russia; in the November Music Festival, Groningen Sounds of Music Festival, and De Link Tilburg in the Netherlands; the Lido di Venezia Festival in Italy; and at the Bozeman Symphony Series, Stony Brook International Piano Festival, Monadnock Music Festival, Nantucket Music Festival and Saint Vincent Concert Series in the US.
An avid chamber musician, Vivian has performed as a guest artist with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players at Tanglewood and Jordan Hall, at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival and the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society in the US, and at the Muziekgebouw and the Korzo in the Netherlands. She is a resident pianist with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston and a member of Herz Ensemble Amsterdam
“Vivian Choi is both daring, and clean in her daringness. There is nothing Ms Choi cannot do.”
– Ned Rorem (Pulitzer Prize-winning composer)
Vivian recently recorded two acclaimed albums on the BMOP/Sound label with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project: Gail Kubik’s Symphony Concertante for Trumpet, Viola, Piano and Orchestra and Harold Shapero’s Partita in C for Piano and Orchestra. Both albums received wide critical acclaim, and the Shapero album was selected as one of the best recordings of 2020 by The Arts Fuse, Sequenza21, and ClassicsToday. Her debut album, consisting of works of Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Godowsky, was released on the Northern Flowers label in 2010, and has since been a mainstay of public radio stations including WQXR, WWFM, and WQED in the US.
The First Prize winner of the Maria Yudina International Piano Competition in Russia, Vivian has won top prizes in international piano competitions in Italy, Russia, the Netherlands and Bulgaria.
Vivian grew up in Sydney, Australia, where she received her earliest musical education. She continued her formal training at Russia’s Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, graduating summa cum laude, and holds graduate degrees from the New England Conservatory and Carnegie Mellon University.