pianist
about
The critics praised President and Artistic Director of Grand Piano Series and Moldovan-American pianist Milana Strezeva for her "technically fluid, dramatically convincing, and sonically full-bodied supportive collaborations" (Boston Globe). At 11, she began playing chamber music with her clarinetist father and her mother, a renowned soprano Svetlana Strezeva. Milana's love for family collaboration eventually grew into a passionate advocacy of vocal and instrumental music and led her to establish Grand Piano Series in Southwest Florida.
A founding member of the award-winning Manhattan Piano Trio, one of the most creative and dynamic young ensembles in America, Milana has performed with them in over 30 American states, in Australia, South Africa, and Italy, and venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and the Ravinia Festival. The Washington Post described the Trio as "impressive" and "outstanding." At the same time, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune said, "one seldom is privileged to enjoy the music of such a wide range of styles performed with self-effacing skill and relaxed assurance." In honor of the composers' bicentennials, a CD of Schumann and Chopin trios was successfully released on the Marquis Classics label in 2009.
Milana is a recipient of Grand Prizes at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Listeners Choice Award in Melbourne, IBLA International Competition as a vocal collaborator, and Arts Recognition and Talent Search Award. Among the prominent venues in which she has performed are - Carnegie Hall (New York), Jordan Hall (Boston), Kravis Center (West Palm Beach), Gusman Hall (Miami); Shenzhen Concert Hall (China), South Melbourne Town Hall (Australia), Linder Auditorium (South Africa).
Some of the internationally acclaimed artists with whom Milana has concertized include members of the former Vermeer Quartet - Schmuel Ashkenasi, Mathias Tacke, Marc Johnson; violinist Stella Chen; flutist Eugenia Zukerman, clarinetists Franklin Cohen and Alexander Fiterstein, Amernet Quartet, violists Karen Dreyfus and Michael Klotz, cellists Zlatomir Fung, Kian Soltani, Sophie Shao, and Dmitry Kouzov, and new music ensemble in Miami - Nu Deco Ensemble.
Milana's most enduring and treasured collaboration is with her mother, the renowned Soprano, Svetlana Strezeva (a.k.a. "The Russian Nightingale" and winner of the 1982 Tchaikovsky Competition). With programs that reflect their love of Russian vocal literature, they have given recitals across the US and Italy, Denmark, Germany, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, and China.
A consummate vocal coach, Milana has been part of several opera productions, including Dicapo Opera (NYC), Sorg Opera (OH), and American Opera Company (NYC). She has collaborated with conductors Paul Nadler, Bruno Rigacci, Enrique Carreón-Robledo, Curtis Tucker, Elaine Rinaldi, and Luis Salemno. While living in NY, Milana has worked in the voice studios of Anna Moffo, Dody Protero, Joshua Hecht, Doris Yarrick – Cross, Richard Cross, Antonia Lavan, Patricia McAffrey, and played for voice lessons at the Juilliard School, Mannes College, Brooklyn College, and Hofstra University.
Having studied piano with Bella Davidovich, Julian Martin, Boris Lvov, and Tatiana Gershfeld, Milana has also studied chamber music with Bruce Brubacker, Felix Galimir, Jonathan Feldman, Seymour Lipkin, Joseph Kalichstein, Joel Krosnik, Jacob Lateiner, Charles Neidich, Toby Appel, and song repertoire with Brian Zeger and Thomas Grubb.
Milana received her Bachelor and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School on a full scholarship.