Eric Zivian

Eric Zivian was born in Michigan and grew up in Toronto, Canada, where he attended the Royal Conservatory of Music. After receiving a diploma there, he left home at age 15 to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree. He went on to receive graduate degrees from the Juilliard School 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 both as a performer and as a composer, studying chamber music with Gilbert Kalish, Peter Serkin, Joel Krosnick, and composition with Oliver Knussen and Alexander Goehr.

Mr. Zivian'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 Zivian is a member of the Zivian-Tomkins Duo, a fortepiano-cello duo that has performed in San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, San Rafael, Berkeley, Davis, Boston, and Washington, D.C. He is also a member of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and has performed with the Empyrean Ensemble, Earplay, and Alternate Currents. He is a frequent guest artist on the San Francisco Conservatory's faculty chamber music series.