Pianist and composer Nicolas Namoradze, whose performances have been hailed by critics as ‘sparkling … sensitive and coloristic’ (The New York Times) and ‘simply gorgeous’ (The Wall Street Journal), came to international attention upon winning the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Canada—among the largest competition prizes in classical music. The Calgary Herald called him ‘unparalleled’ and ‘a pianist’s pianist’, praising his ‘remarkable clarity of execution, refinement and variety of tone, and his uncanny ability to make even the most ordinary passagework sound meaningful and distinctive’.

His activities as the Honens Prize Laureate include recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), 92nd Street Y (New York), Toppan Hall (Tokyo), and deSingel (Antwerp); appearances at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Tanglewood, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Telavi Music Festival (Georgia), Miami International Piano Festival, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival; recording releases on the Honens, Hyperion, Steinway, and Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr labels; and performances with the London Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony, and Ottawa National Arts Centre orchestras, among others.

Namoradze was named among WQXR’s ‘20 for 20’: Artists to Watch—a list that ‘includes long-time heroes, established favourites and newcomers set for stardom who are redefining what classical music can be’. His interest in contemporary music and lesser-known works of the piano repertoire has led Namoradze to present original and exciting programmes embracing pieces such as Godowsky’s infamous Studies on Chopin Études, rarities including Dvořák’s Piano Concerto in G minor, and the music of late-Romantic British composer York Bowen, as well as many works by his contemporaries.

After completing his undergraduate studies in Budapest, Vienna and Florence, Namoradze moved to New York for his master’s at The Juilliard School and his doctoral studies at the CUNY Graduate Center. His teachers have included Emanuel Ax, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Zoltán Kocsis, Matti Raekallio and Eliso Virsaladze for piano, and John Corigliano for composition.