Victor Mio
 Musical Artist

Educator

 Keyboardist

 Harpsichord and Clavichord Builder

Rhodes Piano Restorer

Composer

Dr. Victor Mio is a published composer with experience in various media including film, television and radio. For a notable period of time the focus of his compositional activities has been on Choral music with his works performed worldwide. The Bell'Arte Singers premiered several of his pieces including Ode to St. Cecilia, Away in a Manger, Dream Within A Dream and Libera Me. In the Spring of 2000, his Millennium Hymn for Youth was premiered at Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada, in celebration of excellence in music education. This was a commission from Music Canada 2000 Musique under the patronage of the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada (1999-2005). He is also an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and the Canadian League of Composers. 

Among his academic accomplishments are a Master of Music degree in Composition from the University of Toronto under Canadian Composer John Beckwith and a Doctorate in Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto under Professor Emeritus David Booth (1938-2018). In 1990 Victor was awarded the Don Wright Scholarship in Music Education from the  University of Toronto and later he was awarded the gold medal for his Associateship Performance in Harpsichord at the Royal Conservatory of Music (he also earned an A.R.C.T. in Piano Performance). Dr. Mio obtained both a Licentiate and Fellowship in Harpsichord Performance from Trinity College of Music, London England. Victor studied harpsichord with Colin Tilney (internationally acclaimed Harpsichordist and Clavichordist) in Canada (and participated in master classes in England). He has released two solo recordings for harpsichord; the first featuring the music of Sweelinck, Handel, Couperin and Scarlatti, and the second the music of J.S. Bach. 

During the summers of 2000 and 2001 Victor participated in master classes and concerts in the Festival Musica Antica a Magnano (Piedmont, Italy). Here he focused on 17th and 18th century Clavichord and Harpsichord performance. Bernard Brauchli (a foremost expert in all things clavichord and President of the Swiss Clavichord Society) was the prominent pedagogical force (and founder) at the festival and the experience offered many opportunities to meet early music enthusiasts from around the world as well as great artists such as Gustav Leonhardt.

Victor's search for the perfect grand piano spanned decades. It was a rewarding and eventful journey!

He was always a great enthusiast of Yamaha pianos. In the 1980s after restoring a Marshall and Wendell baby grand produced by the Aeolian-American Corporation in the U.S.A. and selling it for almost twice the original purchase price, he purchased a brand new U3M Yamaha upright. It was a great instrument, yet 20 years later, it was time for an upgrade. In 2003, a Yamaha C7 was the choice. This was much bigger than the C3 dreamt of as a child. However, the quest was not quite over.

Fazioli Pianoforti...a world class, top tier instrument maker, situated about 10 km from where Victor's father had grown up... and about 50 km north of Venice...was now a possibility! Victor had even driven by the Fazioli factory in Sacile, Italy, in admiration of the great piano maker. Fazioli concert grands are offered at the most prestigious international Piano Competitions and utilized at the best music schools worldwide as well (including Julliard).

In the spring of 2013 a great opportunity presented itself!

After a trip to the tri-state area (with his Piano Technician Paul Gilchrist RPT) and a review of several pianos including Steinway, Bosendorfer, August Forster and others, a Fazioli f278 became the obvious choice! This instrument was originally purchased from Klavierhaus in Manhattan, and made its way to a home studio in upstate New York (very close to the site of the legendary Woodstock music event of 1969).

The acquisition of this hand-built, masterpiece piano represented a true life achievement...what an instrument!  

Victor has been interested in "free improvisation" on the piano since he was a teenager. In those days, Keith Jarrett was a great influence, but it was during his time at York University (Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music) that he was very much inspired by the improvisational pedagogy of Professor Emeritus Casey Sokol. 

Victor lives in suburban Toronto, Ontario with his wife Raffaella.