Features

"Pianists come and go, but the musical penetration of the sort Robert Silverman brought to his recital...is a rarity always. In matters of ultimate concern, his playing dwells on the deepest of levels."—The Washington Post

Robert Silverman is perhaps best-known in his native Canada, where he has performed with major orchestras from coast to coast. But he has also appeared, to outstanding reviews, with the Chicago Symphony and the Boston Pops, and in New York, Washington, London, Paris, Budapest, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, and the former Soviet Union.

His repertoire ranges from Bach to Mozart to Gershwin to new age to contemporary—including the first performance in Canada of George Crumb's Makrokosmos.

He has made over a dozen recordings, for Stereophile, CBC Records/Les disques SRC, Musica Viva, Orion, and Marquis. His recording of Michael Baker's Piano Concerto (a work written for and dedicated to Silverman) won a 1991 JUNO Award, while his recorded Liszt recital won a Grand Prix du Disque from the Liszt Society of Hungary, resulting in an invitation to give the annual all-Liszt recital in Budapest to honor that composer's birthday. Other than Intermezzo (1991) and Concert (1994) for Stereophile, his most recent recording was of piano music by César Franck (Musica Viva MVCD 1061, 1993).

Although he gave his first recital at the age of five and made his debut with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra when he was 14, Robert Silverman began his college education as an engineering major, completing three years of study in that field. The call of music was too strong, however; he completed his BA in the humanities, spent two years studying in Vienna, and finished his formal musical education at McGill University and the Eastman School of Music.

Robert Silverman presently divides his time between teaching at the University of British Columbia, where he is Director of the School of Music, and performing. His audio system features Martin-Logan Quest loudspeakers, Audio Research amplification, and PS Audio digital components.