Musical prodigy Nicolas Namoradze wins 2018 Honens Piano Competition

Young Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze has been revealed as the winner of the 2018 International Honens Piano Competition and Festival.

The 26-year old delighted juries and the audience with his performances to be named the laureate of the prestigious award that comes with a 100,000 USD prize money.

Namoradze gained the top spot through 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”, said a news story on the competition by Calgary Herald.

See pianist Nicolas Namoradze perform at the Elebash Hall of the City University of New York Graduate Centre below:

The Canadian newspaper called the Georgian “a pianist’s pianist”, noting his talents in interpretation and refinement.

Before being named as the laureate, Namoradze was shortlisted as one of three finalists for the event, alongside Han Chen from Taiwan and Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner from the United States.

They were picked after ten pianists advanced to a shortlist from quarterfinal stages in Berlin and New York.

The three finalists joined invited artists and ensembles for their final rounds at the Canadian competition, with Namoradze taking to the stage alongside baritone Phillip Addis and violinist Jonathan Crow in his semifinal.

Namoradze is currently studying at the doctoral level at the City University of New York. Photo: Monique de St. Croix.

The young artist’s final performances featured the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major by Brahms.

Namoradze completed his undergraduate studies in Vienna, Florence and Budapest before receiving a master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York.

He has received the Fidelio Fortissimo Prize for Young Composers, while his playing has been praised as "sparkling … sensitive and colouristic" by The New York Times and "simply gorgeous" by the Wall Street Journal.

The young artist also works as composer and has produced film scores for Walking Painting, directed by Fabienne Verdier, and Nuit d’opéra à Aix, a short made in association with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.