Milana Zilnik

Milana is a multi-award winning pianist, composer and singer-songwriter, who has been a performing and recording artist since her childhood. A strong lyricist and composer in her own right, Milana's style is reminiscent of Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Michael Nyman, Keith Jarret and Chick Corea. Milana enjoys playing by ear, improvising and using whatever inspires her to create her own style of playing. She is known as an adept improviser, catching melodies on the fly and expanding them into her own creations.

Milana was born in Ukraine, lived in Israel for many years and moved to Canada in 2008. Having lived in different countries has enriched her musical experiences and storytelling. Her songs touch on issues of belonging, identity, the inner child, war and peace, and life and death. Soulful singing and complex piano melodies are Milana's signature, but she embraces a variety of styles - everything from folk, blues, opera and Middle Eastern, to her soft spots for rock and jazz.

Milana has published three books with original scores for solo piano, released twenty original full-length albums (solo piano, multi-instrumental and original songs in various genres), a few EPs and singles. More than 50 of her piano solo works have been featured on music editorials such as Apple Music's "Piano Chill" or Amazon Music's "Ultimate Classical" station. Her music has been streamed over 75 Million times on Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora and related platforms. In 2023 Milana's orchestral and piano solo works were performed by Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra alongside compositions by Helge Burggrabe and Ralph Vaughan Williams for Bryan Arias's ballet show based on "The Little Prince" story.

Since 2012, in addition to releasing original albums, performing live and teaching, Milana has taken piano and vocal performance in a commercial direction by doing session recordings, arranging, composing for films and online music libraries in her own studio located in Ottawa's suburb. Milana provides full-service soundtrack and song production, as well as live-recorded piano and vocal on demand.