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Nicolas Namoradze
Namoradze at the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition
Namoradze at the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition
Background information
BornAugust 19, 1992 (1992-08-19) (age 32)
Tbilisi, Georgia
Genres
Years active2013–present
Labels
Websitenicolasnamoradze.com

Nicolas Namoradze (born 19 August 1992) is a classical pianist, composer, and educator. He came to international attention in 2018 upon winning the triennial Honens International Piano Competition, one of the world's largest and most comprehensive prizes for pianists, in Calgary, Canada.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, he grew up in Budapest, Hungary,[3] where he began piano lessons at age seven and attended the Liszt University of Music and a British international school.[4] He made his orchestral debut at age 12.[5]

Upon hearing Namoradze while rehearsing with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Emanuel Ax suggested he move to New York City and study with him at the Juilliard School. Namoradze followed this advice, and after completing his undergraduate studies in Budapest, Vienna, and Florence, he moved to New York in 2013 to study with Ax. In 2015 he earned his master's degree at Juilliard, followed in 2020 by his doctorate at the City University of New York Graduate Center,[6] where he held the Graduate Center Fellowship, with a dissertation on Macroharmony in Ligeti's Etudes, Book 3.[7]

In addition to Emanuel Ax, his teachers included Zoltán Kocsis, András Schiff, Eliso Virsaladze, and Yoheved Kaplinsky[8] for piano, and John Corigliano for composition.[9] Ax described him as "set to become one of the truly important artists of his generation".

Unusually for a musician in the early stages of an extremely promising career, from 2014 to 2018 he mostly withdrew from performance and competitions to explore his artistic voice as a composer[10] and to pursue his academic studies,[5] before entering and winning the triennial Honens International Piano Competition. During that period he made a limited number of concert appearances, such as at the Chelsea Music Festival in New York in 2015.[11]

From 2016 to 2019 he was on the faculty of Queens College, New York, where he taught chamber music, composition, and music history.[12]

2018: Honens Prize

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He won the 2018 Honens Competition, one of the world's largest piano prizes, with a performance in the semifinals of his own Etudes and, in the finale, of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2.[13] The cash prize of CA$100,000 was accompanied by a comprehensive artist development program[14] that included concert engagements, recordings, management, publicity support, and a Banff Centre residency.[15]

The honor also garnered him recording contracts with Hyperion Records and with the Steinway & Sons label, with releases also on the Honens and Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr labels, and tours in Japan, Canada, and the U.S., including debut concerts at Wigmore Hall (London),[16] Konzerthaus Berlin, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Toppan Hall (Japan), deSingel (Belgium),[17] and Carnegie Hall (New York), where the program included his own Etudes and the world premiere of his "Arabesque" along with Bach, Scriabin and Schumann.[18][19] Reviewing one of Namoradze's concerts following the Honens award, the Calgary Herald wrote that his performance of Scriabin was "the last word in how this music might be played".[20]

2020–present

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Before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted artists' touring schedules, his 2020 bookings included concerts in Israel, Berlin, Boston, Japan, and the Beethoven 250th Anniversary celebrations in October with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.[21]

In January 2021 his album York Bowen: Fragments from Hans Andersen & Studies debuted on the UK charts as the No. 1-selling classical instrumental album.[22] It was a Gramophone "Best New Classical Albums" Editor's Choice",[23] BBC Music Magazine's Instrumental Disc of the Month,[24] a Presto Editor's Choice,[25] and the winner of the Choc de Classica.[26] The following month, Limelight named it its Recording of the Month.[3] and Musical America named Namoradze its New Artist of the Month.[4]

He was pictured on the cover of the January/February 2022 issue of International Piano Magazine[27] as his third album, Arabesque: Piano Music of Schumann and Namoradze, which included his own compositions, came out in January on the Steinway & Sons label.[28]

Compositions

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Namoradze's compositions include solo piano works, chamber music, and electronic music. He has produced soundtracks for feature films and videos, including Fabienne Verdier's short films Walking Painting[29] and Nuit d'Opéra à Aix (2017) made in association with the Aix-en-Provence Festival.[30] His compositions are published by Muse Press.[30]

Neuropsychology research

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Also a postgraduate student of neuropsychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, Namoradze researches the effects of mental practice and mindfulness on musical performance, auditory perception, and the effect of music on the brain, and gives combined lecture/concerts on the subject.[31][32]

He is based in New York City.

Discography

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  • Nicolas Namoradze: Live at Honens 2018 (2019, Honens)
  • York Bowen: Fragments from Hans Andersen Opp. 58 & 61; 12 Studies Op. 46; 2 Concert Studies (2021, Hyperion)[16]
  • Arabesque: Piano Music of Schumann and Namoradze (2022, Steinway & Sons)

Works

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Title Year Instrumentation/medium Commissioned by
Moon, Refracted: A Variation on Rentarō Taki's 'Kōjō no Tsuki' 2019 Piano
Sonata for Violin and Piano 2018 Violin and piano Tessa Lark
Arabesque 2018 Piano
Etudes I–VI 2015–19 Piano
Nuit d'Opéra à Aix 2017 Music for film Dir. Martin Baizeau, prod. Aix-en-Provence Festival
Walking Painting 2016 Music for film Dir. Fabienne Verdier, prod. atelier Fabienne Verdier
Partita for Keyboard Ensemble 2016 Clavichord, harpsichord, organ, piano, toy piano Chelsea Music Festival
"Gravity" Concerto for Double Bass and String Ensemble 2016 Double nass and string ensemble Chelsea Music Festival
"An Unlikely Friendship" 2016 Voice, harpsichord and electronics
"eau" 2016 Cello and Electronics
"Bell Fields" 2016 Audiovisual work with digital animator Kati Vilim
Spiele im Spiegel 2015 Electronic
Three Overtunes 2015 Electronic
Theme and Variation for Violin and Piano 2015 Violin and piano Tessa Lark
Transformations for String Quartet 2015 String quartet Chelsea Music Festival
"entre ciel et terre" 2014 Cello and electronics
Chorale Variations 2014 Piano
Georgian Chorales and Postludes 2014 Piano
Suite in C for Woodwind Quartet 2014 Flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon

References

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  1. ^ "Rising star pianist says top prize of $100K in Calgary will jump-start career". CBC/Radio-Canada. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  2. ^ Lika Chigladze (27 September 2018), Nicolas Namoradze – First Georgian to Win Honens Int'l Piano Competition, Georgia Today, retrieved 21 January 2022
  3. ^ a b Clive Paget (2 February 2021). "Nicolas Namoradze on York Bowen and the advantages of freakishly large hands". Limelight. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b Clive Paget (1 February 2021). "New Artist of the Month: Pianist/Composer Nicolas Namoradze". Musical America. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b Holly Harris (15 April 2021). "Cancelled tours just part of pianist's 'turbulent life'". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  6. ^ Holly Harris (31 March 2021). "Profile: Nicolas Namoradze: 'Life Is Full Of Surprises'". ludwig-van.com. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  7. ^ Namoradze, Nicolas (September 2020). Macroharmony in Ligeti's Etudes, Book 3 (doctoral thesis). City University of New York. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  8. ^ Ilona Oltuski (26 April 2019). "The new age thinking virtuoso – Nicolas Namoradze". getclassical.org. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  9. ^ Carol Xiong (15 July 2020). "Nicolas Namoradze: Breakthrough Artist Here to Stay". La Scena Musicale. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  10. ^ Peter Robb (28 February 2020). "Nicolas Namoradze: Sound explorer". artsFile.ca. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  11. ^ Vivien Schweitzer (14 June 2015). "Reviews: Chelsea Music Festival, Gregg Kallor and St. Petersburg Philharmonic". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  12. ^ "The Musician Behind Mindfulness". mindfulness.idagio.com. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  13. ^ Stephen Cera (10 September 2018). "Journals from Honens: Nicolas Namoradze leaves best for last at 2018 Honens International Piano Competition". thewholenote.com. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  14. ^ Hilary Stroh (12 September 2018). "Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze wins 2018 Honens International Piano Competition". Pianist Magazine. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  15. ^ William Littler (14 September 2018). "Winning a major music competition doesn't guarantee a career". Toronto Star. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  16. ^ a b Jeremy Nicholas. "Bowen Fragments from Hans Andersen (Nicolas Namoradze)". Gramophone. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Nicolas Namoradze: Why Mental Practice is the Musician's Secret Superpower". thepianoleague.com. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  18. ^ David Wright (11 February 2019). "Namoradze explores the shadows, deep and dark, in impressive New York debut". newyorkclassicalreview.com. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  19. ^ Roman Markowicz (10 February 2019). "When Competition Winner Sounds Like a Real Musician". concertonet.com. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  20. ^ Kenneth DeLong (6 September 2019). "Honens Festive 2019: Nicolas Namoradze dazzles on piano". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  21. ^ Hilary Stroh (15 January 2020). "Still the best job in the world: Nicolas Namoradze". Bachtrack. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  22. ^ Lizi Budagashvili (11 February 2021). "Nicolas Namoradze – World Renowned Georgian Musician and Neuropsychology in Music". Georgian Journal. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  23. ^ "The best new classical albums: Editor's Choice, January 2021". Gramophone. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  24. ^ Kate Wakeling (27 January 2021). "A delightful set of little-known treasures". BBC Music Magazine.
  25. ^ Katherine Cooper (2 February 2021). "Presto Editor's Choices – January 2021". PrestoMusic. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  26. ^ Michel Fleury (17 June 2021). "New York Bowen". classica.fr. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  27. ^ John Barnett (23 September 2021), "Inside the Jan/Feb 2022 issue of International Piano", rhinegold.co.uk, retrieved 21 January 2022
  28. ^ "Robert Schumann and Nicolas Namoradze: Arabesque". Naxos Direct. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  29. ^ Ghislain Baizeau. "Walking Painting". filmfreeway.com. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  30. ^ a b "Walking Painting". Steinway & Sons. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  31. ^ Stephi Wild (30 September 2021). "Nicolas Namoradze Will Appear Live in Concert in Edmonton". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  32. ^ Mark Morris (4 November 2021). "Unusual evolution of early music for new season of chamber music". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
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