piano

Eric Zivian is a pianist, fortepianist, and composer. He is founder and Music Director of the Valley of the Moon Music Festival in Sonoma, specializing in Classical and Romantic music on period instruments.

In recent years, Eric performed the Mozart C minor Concerto with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Beethoven Choral Fantasy with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. He has also soloed with the Santa Rosa Symphony and the Toronto Symphony, among others.

Eric has performed extensively on fortepiano since 2000. At the height of the pandemic, Eric livestreamed all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas on period pianos.

Eric’s compositions have been performed widely in the United States and in Tokyo, Japan. He was awarded an ASCAP Jacob Druckman Memorial Commission to compose an orchestral work, Three Character Pieces, which was premiered by the Seattle Symphony in March 1998.

Eric received degrees in piano and composition from Curtis, Juilliard, and the Yale School of Music. He studied piano with Gary Graffman and Peter Serkin and composition with Ned Rorem, Jacob Druckman, and Martin Bresnick. He attended the Tanglewood Music Center as a performer and composer.