Pianist and composer Nicolas Namoradze, whose performances have been hailed by critics as “sparkling... sensitive and coloristic” (New York Times), “simply gorgeous” (Wall Street Journal) and “astonishing” (International Piano Magazine), came to international attention in 2018 upon winning the triennial Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Canada—the largest piano prize in the world. His often sold-out recitals around the world have been met with universal critical acclaim, and the recent release of his debut album featuring works by York Bowen on the Hyperion label has received extraordinary accolades, including Record of the Month in Limelight, Instrumental Disc of the Month in BBC Music Magazine, Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and Editor’s Choice in Presto Classical, while debuting in the UK charts as the #1-selling classical instrumental album. 

A Gramophone “One to Watch” and BBC Music Magazine “Rising Star,” Namoradze was recently named among WQXR’s “20 for 20: Artists to Watch,” a list that “includes long-time heroes, established favorites and newcomers set for stardom who are redefining what classical music can be.” His current activities include recitals at concert halls including London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall and 92nd Street Y, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan and Toppan Hall, Boston’s Gardner Museum and the Konzerthaus Berlin; appearances at Tanglewood, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Toronto Summer Music, Miami International Piano Festival, Telavi Music Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg- Vorpommern, Tbilisi Piano Fest and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival; and performances with orchestras including the Budapest Festival Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony and Ottawa National Arts Centre orchestras, with conductors such as Iván Fischer, Karina Canellakis, Ken-David Masur and Daniele Rustioni. Upon the invitation of Sir András Schiff, Namoradze will present recitals at leading venues around Europe including deSingel Antwerp, Munich Allerheiligenhofkirche, Orpheus Stiftung Zurich and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival in the “Building Bridges” series. 

Namoradze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1992 and grew up in Budapest, Hungary. Following his undergraduate studies in Budapest, Vienna, and Florence, Namoradze moved to New York for his master’s at The Juilliard School and doctorate at the CUNY Graduate Center, holding the Graduate Center Fellowship. His teachers and mentors have included Emanuel Ax, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Zoltán Kocsis, Matti Raekallio, András Schiff and Elisso Virsaladze in piano, and John Corigliano in composition. He now pursues postgraduate studies in neuropsychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College, London, where his research interests include the effects of mental practice and mindfulness on musical performance. Namoradze is the author of “Macroharmony in Ligeti’s Third Book of Piano Etudes,” a book to be published in 2021 by Springer in the Computational Music Sciences series. His compositions are published by Muse Press.