Pianist Giorgi Mikadze awarded residency at creative US venue

Georgian pianist and composer Giorgi Mikadze will continue his musical career at one of the most prominent creative venues in the United States after receiving the 18th Street Art Centre residency in California for 2017.

Mikadze, who received his Master’s degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music last year, joined the artistic collective of the centre earlier this month.

The young Georgian musician will further hone his skills during the residency running through March 2017.

See Giorgi Mikadze perform alongside winners of the 2014 Six String Theory Competition in Switzerland below:

The program will allow Mikadze to take advantage of the creative space of the venue to develop his cross-genre musical projects that involve a fusion of jazz, folk and hip-hop music.

His recent collaborations involved Georgian folk music ensemble Basiani, American DJ and producer Raydar Ellis and hip-hop artist Ryan Easter in performances in the US and Georgia.

Recently signed by Yamaha, an internationally recognised musical instrument company, Mikadze recently featured alongside jazz legends Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin in a series of concerts in the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club in New York last year.

The young Georgian was also part of a December 2016 jazz show at the ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn, performing with iconic drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Matt Garrison, in addition to other artists.

Mikadze became the first Georgian artist to sign with the Yamaha musical instrument company last year. Photo: Giorgi Mikadze.

Over the past two years, Mikadze has also performed with his band, the Giorgi Mikadze Group, at concerts in New York and Los Angeles as well as the Black Sea Jazz Festival in Georgia's seaside city of Batumi.

The young artist’s global music career was heavily supported by a financial contribution from the Georgian Government's International Education Centre (IEC), established in 2014 to fund Georgian citizens studying at the Master’s or Doctorate-level at universities abroad.

The 18th Street Art Centre residency is promoted as a "supportive environment” designed to allow contemporary artists to work on their projects, and is recognised as "one of the top 20” residency programs in the US.

Since its launch in 1992 the program has hosted over 400 creators from dozens of countries.

The 18th Street Art Centre was founded in 1988 to "provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making”.