Polish-American pianist Adam Golka‘s professional life began when he was awarded the first prize and audience prize at the Second China Shanghai International Piano Competition. In 2009, he won the Max I. Allen Fellowship from American Pianists Association. His principal teachers have been José Feghali, with whom he studied at Texas Christian University, and Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory. Since completing his formal studies, Mr. Golka has continued to develop his artistry through mentorship from Alfred Brendel, Richard Goode, Murray Perahia, Mitsuko Uchida, Evelyne Crochet, Ferenc Rados, Rita Wagner, and Sir András Schiff, who invited Adam to give recitals at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Tonhalle Zürich, for the “Sir András Schiff Selects” concert series. Mr. Golka has also given solo recitals in Tokyo’s Musashino Hall, New York’s Alice Tully Hall, and Amsterdam’s Kleine Zaal in Het Concertgebouw.

As a concerto soloist, he has appeared with dozens of orchestras, including the BBC Scottish Symphony, NACO (Ottawa), Warsaw Philharmonic, NFM Leopoldinum, and Shanghai Philharmonic, as well as the San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, New Jersey, and San Diego Symphonies in the US, among many others. Mr. Golka has enjoyed collaborations with conductors such as Joseph Swensen, Donald Runnicles, Pinchas Zukerman, Mark Wigglesworth, and his brother, conductor Tomasz Golka. Adam gave his Carnegie Stern Auditorium début in 2010 with the New York Youth Symphony.

Chamber music is an integral part of Mr. Golka’s life, and he has performed repeatedly at the Krzyżowa-Music “Music for Europe” festival, which has included tour performances at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Beethoven Bonn festivals, as well as Konzerthaus Berlin. He also performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Caramoor chamber music festivals in the U.S. Adam collaborates regularly with the Manhattan Chamber Players and in recital with baritone John Moore, pianist Yannick Rafalimanana, cellist Jonathan Swensen, and violinist Itamar Zorman, with whom he recently debuted at The Wigmore Hall in London.

As a pedagogue, Mr. Golka acted as Artist-in-Residence for six school years at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mr. Golka has recorded works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms for London-based First Hand Records and he has premiered works composed for him by Richard Danielpour, Michael Brown, and Jarosław Gołębiowski.

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Photo credit: Jeurgen Frank