John Milbauer – Fred Fox School of Music

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Professor, Music

Music Bldg, Room 156
520-621-9928

B.M. and Performer’s Certificate, Eastman School of Music; M.M., The Juilliard School; D.M.A., Manhattan School of Music; Certificate, Liszt Academy, Budapest.

Steinway Artist John Milbauer has recently performed in China, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, and Japan as well as throughout the United States. Highlights of the past two seasons include Ravel's Concerto in G with the Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart in Boston's Symphony Hall, an interactive media/music collaboration with MIT’s media lab, Poulenc's Aubade with San Diego Winds, recitals with Stephanie Houtzeel of the Vienna State Opera, residencies with the Conservatorios Nacionales Superiores of Sevilla and Jaén in Spain, and a tour of major cities in China. Current projects include performances of Milbauer's "Which Side Are You On?" program based on themes of protest, immigration, and workers' rights. A 2017 review in Sevilla said “this extraordinary program makes you discover that music reminds us that we all can be refugees, exiles, and immigrants…and John Milbauer says this through the keys of the piano.” France's Republique du Centre has called him "a virtuoso of the first magnitude" while American Record Guide wrote, "Milbauer employs a full expressive range, performs with astounding delicacy, and conveys unspeakable wonder through an intimate touch and astonishing versatility." A laureate of the Orléans Concours in France for piano music of the 20th Century, he has performed concerts devoted only to chance music and enjoys playing music that employs electronic sounds, prepared piano, extended techniques, and graphic notation; in a similar vein, he has contributed a chapter on the performance of the music of John Cage to The Pianist's Craft series. A versatile musician, Milbauer has performed with the Mills Brothers and Pink Martini, and has a discography that includes a release with violinist David Garrett that has over 250,000 views on YouTube.

Milbauer studied music, classics, and government at Harvard College before earning degrees from the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and, as recipient of a Fulbright grant, the Liszt Academy in Budapest. He was awarded the Eastman Performer's Certificate (the highest performance honor of the school) and the Wolodarsky Prize from the Banff Centre, and was nominated for the Gina Bachauer prize for outstanding pianist at Juilliard. His teachers include Jerome Lowenthal, Ferenc Rados, György Sebök, and Rebecca Penneys. Since 2012 he has been Co-Director of the Chautauqua Piano Program, helping to transform it into one of the premiere summer piano programs in the Americas.

Dr. Milbauer encourages his students to develop fluid, weight-based techniques in sympathy with musical expression, and works to remove the barriers that interfere with creative flow. Many students have come to him to return to pianistic health. His students have won top prizes at competitions including the L.A. Liszt Competition, the MTNA Young Artist Nationals, the Chautauqua Piano Competition, and the Washington International. In 2018 he was awarded the Maestro Award in recognition for his students' successes at the University of Arizona.

"Crystal-clear Mozart with exemplary ornamentation…Milbauer displayed his musical sovereignty in Ravel's Tombeau…a master of agogic and rhythm, and one hopes for his return."
—Walliser Zeitung, Switzerland

"Considered one of the most beautiful works of Brahms, the monumental Sonata for Two Pianos is an immense undertaking, not only from a technical point of view with its severe difficulties, but also bringing to light the subtle introspections, the serene melancholy, the contained passion, and an apparent interior search. This extraordinary version of Paulina Zamora and John Milbauer brought the full house to its feet with strenuous and lengthy applause, just retribution for an evening of the highest quality…A wonderful gift to the people of Santiago."
—El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile

"The Bartok Concerto, brilliantly played by pianist John Milbauer, was the audience hit, from a rhythmic first movement filled with nature/bird sounds to an absolutely beautiful, pensive second movement in which the soloist, as if in solitary space created by quivering strings, seems to ruminate before concluding with an excitingly rapid final movement."
—The Sacramento Bee

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