Brian Billion is a classical pianist originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he began piano lessons at the age of eleven under the tutelage of Julie-Melik Stepanov. He has won top prizes at national and international competitions, including 1st prize at the Lancaster International Piano Competition (2015), and the 1st Catholic University of America International Piano Competition (2014).
Dr. Billion began studying under Dr. Ivo Klatchev in 2012 at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. as the recipient of the Archdiocesan Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship based on academic excellence. Upon graduation in 2016 he received the special award from the School of Music faculty for Best Undergraduate Instrumentalist. In 2018 Dr. Billion completed his Master’s degree in Piano Performance at The Juilliard School in New York, studying with Hung-Kuan Chen. Recently, he received his Doctorate in Piano Performance with a Music Theory minor from University of Minnesota (2025), under the tutelage of Alexander Braginsky. He now teaches a studio of prize-winning piano students in Minneapolis/St. Paul, along with regularly performing classical piano recitals around the US.
He has performed at such international venues as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall (Weill Hall), Lincoln Center’s Paul Hall and Peter J. Sharp Hall (NYC), the Cascais Cultural Center in Lisbon, Portugal, the Teatro Comunale Degli Industri in Grosseto, Italy, Mariahilferkirche in Vienna, Austria, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (DC), among many other venues around the US.
Brian has a passion for musical education, both in teaching as well as in performing. Since 2015, his performances have very often included a spoken component to accompany the music. His desire is that by introducing and highlighting aspects of the music that are interesting, edifying, moving, and inspiring, he can spark new connections for the listener to the music, regardless of their familiarity with classical music. Through both word and music, a path toward the good, true, and beautiful can appear for the listener. Using as inspiration the incredibly rich tradition of classical music, Brian has performed lecture recitals highlighting in depth the music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, Schubert, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Grieg, Scriabin, Tchaikovsky, among many other composers. Most recently, Brian’s projects have explored the connection of sacred art and the music of Franz Liszt and Bach-Busoni, as well as the Christian roots and inspiration of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s piano music.
Brian is also a devoted sacred musician, singing regularly at liturgies for the past decade, as well as conducting a volunteer choir for the Catholic lay movement Communion and Liberation. During his time in DC, he worked as a staff tenor in the St. Matthew’s Cathedral Choir. For the last four choral seasons, he has sung tenor in the Saint Helena Singers, a professional quartet at Holy Cross Church in Minneapolis under the leadership of Dr. Sam Backman.
