Grzegorz (Greg) Niemczuk
Grzegorz Niemczuk is regarded as one of the most interesting and outstanding Polish artists of his generation, and the only one in Poland who has all of Chopin's piano music in his repertoire. In 2017, his interpretations of Chopin's music were placed by National Polish Radio alongside Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini, and Adam Harasiewicz. Over the last 16 years of his career, he has performed more than 450 recitals and concerts in 35 different countries on all six continents, reaching more than 150,000 people in total.
Admired for his sensitivity, poetry, beautiful sound, and passionate virtuosity, he has become a favourite with audiences and critics alike, particularly in Norway, Japan, China, and Latin America. He has appeared in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Kioi Hall and Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Hall in Tokyo, Sapporo Education and Culture Hall, Hakodate Performing Arts Center, Beijing Concert Hall, Qintai Concert Hall in Wuhan, Guotai Arts Center in Chongqing, Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, Teatro Sucre in Cuenca, Teatro Centro de Arte in Guayaquil, Centro Cultural in Lima, Peru, Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, Teatro Puccini in Milan, Teatro Civico in Vercelli, Busan Cultural Center in Busan, Teatro Sérgio Cardoso and Centro Cultural in São Paulo, Yamaha Artist Services in Paris, the Conservatoire de Musique, Danse & Théâtre in Orléans, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and many others. His collaborations with orchestras have included appearances with the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Concerti Sinfonietta, Tokyo Mozart Virtuoso Orchestra, Polish Philharmonic Sinfonia Baltica, the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice, the Symphony Orchestra of Lower Silesia, and many others.
In December 2017, he made his debut in China (Beijing Concert Hall) as part of the Polish Circles of Art Festival — the largest Polish festival in China. This performance was a great success, with fantastic reviews on CCTV and other major Chinese media. His solo debut performance in Tokyo in July 2017 was a spectacular success, described in Chopin Magazine as a "performance with firm structure, and beautifully solid in expressing the essence of the story, virtuosity and agitation, transmitting the nuances of changing light and shadow as well as the poetic tune of mind." He became an immediate favourite of Japanese audiences and was invited back for further tours in the following years. His Carnegie Hall debut (performing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2) was described by The Epoch Times as "full of fluidity, extremely wide dynamic range — from resounding fortissimos to whisper-soft pianissimos, variety of tone colours, and dazzling virtuosity."
Niemczuk's vast repertoire spans more than 250 solo pieces and 30 piano concertos, ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary era. His particular speciality is the Romantic period, and Frédéric Chopin above all. Due to the pandemic, in April 2020, he launched an unprecedented worldwide project to record video lectures about all of Chopin's works. In total, more than 315 episodes were made in two languages (Polish and English), published on YouTube and on Greg's Facebook fan page. Those videos received more than 1.5 million views by November 2022.
Grzegorz Niemczuk is the prizewinner of many international piano competitions, notably the winner of the 2013 International Carnegie Hall Concerto Debut Competition in New York City and the 40th National Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (2010). He has received many honourable awards in his home country, including from the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture. He has also performed at numerous music festivals, including the Grieg in Bergen Festival (2017, 2019), Polish Circles of Art in China Festival (2018, 2019), Busan MARU International Music Festival, South Korea (2016), International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York (2008, 2009, 2011, 2014), Festival Dino Ciani in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (2010, 2012), Mosel Music Festival (2011), Leipziger Chopin-Tage (2014), "La Folle Journée de Varsovie" in Warsaw (2010), and many others.
In addition to his performing career, he is also a dedicated pedagogue and currently serves on the piano faculty of the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland. In October 2017, he earned his PhD from the Academy of Music in Wrocław, Poland. His students are winners of international piano competitions in Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, and France. He is also invited to present masterclasses and lectures at many music universities, including the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway, Sapporo Conservatoire, Japan, the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Florianópolis, Brazil, the Federal University in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica, the Conservatory of Music in Lima, Peru, Universidad Católica in Quito, Ecuador, and Changde University in Changde, China.