Nicolas Namoradze

Pianist and composer Nicolas Namoradze has earned plaudits both for unusual virtuosity and for the narrative strengths of his playing. Though early in his career, he has developed twin specialties in virtuoso repertory and in unusual and neglected piano music. Namoradze was born in Tbilisi, in the Republic of Georgia, in 1992. When he was two, his family moved to Budapest, Hungary, but he has maintained a strong interest in Georgian music. Namoradze loved many kinds of music almost from infancy, and he took up the piano at age seven. He pursued undergraduate studies in Budapest, Vienna, and Florence. In Budapest, he met pianist Emanuel Ax, who urged him to move to the U.S. for further studies, and who has championed his growing career. Namoradze earned a master's degree at the Juilliard School and a doctorate at the City University of New York Graduate Center. His primary teachers have included Ax, Zoltán Kocsis, András Schiff, and, in composition, John Corigliano. Namoradze taught chamber music, composition, and music history for several years at Queens College as his career developed, and he has gone on for postgraduate studies in neurophysiology and music at King's College, London. A major breakthrough for Namoradze came in 2018 with a win at the triennial Honens International Piano Festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a recitalist, Namoradze has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and the 92nd Street Y in New York. As a concerto soloist, he has appeared with the London Philharmonic, the Milwaukee Symphony, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, among other groups. Namoradze is a frequent guest at such festivals as Tanglewood, Toronto Summer Music, and the Miami International Piano Festival. Namoradze's compositions have been performed by the Metropolis Ensemble, the Barkada Quartet, and Tessa Lark, among other musicians, and he has composed several film soundtracks. He is also the author of the book Macroharmony in Ligeti's Third Book of Piano Etudes, adapted from his doctoral dissertation. In 2021, Namoradze released his debut album, a collection of pieces by York Bowen, on the Hyperion label.