Polish-American pianist Adam Golka first performed all of Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas when he was 18 years-old, and he returned to the complete cycle in 2020-2021 for performances in NYC, Orlando, and Houston. He also presented all-Beethoven live streams for presenters in Ventura, El Paso, Sitka, Spokane, and the Library of Congress. Mr. Golka’s performances and presentations were complemented by 32 short films he created, known as ’32@32″ (available on YouTube), featuring not only conversations with legends such as Alfred Brendel and Leon Fleisher, but also connecting the Sonatas to other disciplines through dialogues with an astrophysicist, philosopher, magician, painter, and a child, to name only a few special guests.

Mr. Golka began his performing career at sixteen, when he won the First Prize and Audience Prize in the Second China Shanghai International Piano Competition. He also was a winner of the Gilmore Young Artist Award and the American Pianists Association Max I. Allen Classical Fellowship. As a concerto soloist, he has appeared as soloist with dozens of orchestras, including the BBC Scottish Symphony, NACO (Ottawa), Warsaw Philharmonic, Shanghai Philharmonic, as well as the San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, New Jersey, Seattle, Fort Worth, Jacksonville, and San Diego Symphonies. He has performed with eminent conductors such as Pinchas Zukerman, Donald Runnicles, JoAnn Falletta, and Mark Wigglesworth.

Mr. Golka performed recitals as part of the “Sir Andras Schiff Selects” project at Klavier-Festival Ruhr (Essen), Tonhalle Zürich, Maison de France (Berlin), and 92Y Subculture (NYC). He has also performed solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall (NYC), Concertgebouw Kleine Zall (Amsterdam), Musashino Hall (Tokyo), and for Cliburn at the Kimbell. Chamber music is an integral part of Adam Golka’s musical life. He performs frequently as a founding member of the Manhattan Chamber Players, he has participated in the Marlboro Music Festival, and he is a regular artist at the Krzyżowa-Music “Music for Europe” festival.

adamgolka.com
Photo credit: Jeurgen Frank