Milana Zilnik

Pianist and composer Milana Zilnik's musical approach is difficult to pigeonhole. Her work alternates between meditative instrumentals with melancholic tone and singer/songwriter-leaning compositions informed by folk, blues, rock and jazz. Born in Ukraine in 1978 and later raised in Israel, Zilnik started playing piano at age four and learned how to improvise from her father, who also excelled at the instrument. She studied early-childhood education at university and played with a band; she became serious about her solo work following a 2008 move to Canada, releasing a steady string of albums and singles. In 2022, Zilnik embraced both sides of her musical world, releasing the tranquil, dreamy instrumental albums Notturni (Dreaming of Chopin) and Notturni II (Dreaming of Chopin) and the jazz-influenced vocal single “Memories of Paris”. In the artist’s words: Find a song of yours on Apple Music that you love and tell us what makes it special. "Distant Memories" It was written during one of the lockdowns when I was on the edge of breaking down. I devoted it to my mom, who lives on the other side of Atlantic but she used to come here every year... until 2020... All we had then was those “distant memories”.