What three words come to mind when we think of pianist Vijay Venkatesh? Passionate, humble, and poetic. When asked about his love for jigsaw puzzles, he describes how the depiction of Venice in his favorite puzzle inspires him to incorporate the artist’s brush strokes into every performance of Chopin’s Barcarolle. At the age of 17, he viewed music as a gift to move the world that serves as a common link to touch the humanity in all people, a philosophy he called “Magic through Music.”
Vijay Venkatesh is a top prize winner in the San Jose, World Piano, and Waring International Piano Competitions. He was a 2008 Davidson Fellow Laureate at the Library of Congress and has performed as a soloist worldwide with orchestras such as the Seattle Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Adding to his long list of accomplishments, he is now a 2022-2023 Performance Today Young Artist in Residence.
Venkatesh is also an active chamber musician who regularly tours with his wife, Eva Shaumkell, as the Vieness Piano Duo. He is the pianist in the Aristeia Trio and the 2016 gold medalist of the Frances Walton International Chamber Music Competition. He has appeared at the Aspen, Banff, and Sarasota Music Festivals.
Venkatesh earned a bachelor’s from USC Thornton and a master’s from IU Jacobs School of Music, where he was awarded the Barbara and David Jacobs Fellowship. He recently obtained an Artist Diploma from the Colburn School in Los Angeles, California.
In 2022, Venkatesh recorded two albums for Naxos and Albany Records, set for release sometime in 2023.
Video: Pianist Vijay Venkatesh
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