Pianist Blair McMillen's musical tastes are broad, both in solo and chamber music, and they extend to improvisation, nontraditional recital settings, and jazz, a field in which he is self-taught. His recording career has focused heavily on contemporary music. McMillen spent 12 years as the pianist with the contemporary-music-oriented Da Capo Chamber Players, and he has also performed with the American Modern Ensemble and the Perspectives Ensemble, among other groups. McMillen's recording catalog begins with the recital Soundings in 2004. The following year, he joined the faculty at Bard College; he also began teaching at the Mannes College of Music in New York in 2017. He issued a recording of music by Bartók, Schnittke, and Lutoslawski with violinist Miranda Cuckson in 2016. McMillen was heard with percussionist Evelyn Glennie and the Albany Symphony on the 2021 album Strike Zones.