Outstanding performances in over 50 concerts have established Nikolai Demidenko’s reputation, particularly for his interpretations of Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Medtner, and Tchaikovsky. Thanks to this, he has earned worldwide recognition for his virtuosity, passion, and musicality.

Nikolai has worked with renowned conductors such as Sir Roger Norrington, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Charles Dutoit, Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Andrew Davis, Giancarlo Guerrero, Dima Slobodeniouk, and Pablo González. He has collaborated with the St Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Philharmonia Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Helsinki Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Xi’an Symphony Orchestra, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. In Spain, he has performed with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Navarra Symphony Orchestra, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra and Choir, and the Spanish National Orchestra and Choir, among others.

Among his frequent recital appearances in London, highlights include performances in the Barbican’s Great Performers Series, the Southbank Centre’s International Piano Series, and the London Pianoforte Series at Wigmore Hall.

His extensive discography includes nearly 40 recordings. For Hyperion Records, he has recorded over 20 CDs, including Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (reissued in March 2015), the Gramophone Editor’s Choice award-winning Medtner album, Music for Two Pianos with Dmitri Alexeev, his award-winning Rachmaninov CD (BBC Music Magazine Best of the Year and Diapason d’Or), and the Tchaikovsky and Scriabin Piano Concertos, which won BBC Music Magazine’s Best of the Year and Classics CD’s Concerto Recording of the Year. His 2008 Chopin album released on ONYX Classics won the 2010 MIDEM Chopin Special Award.

Nikolai Demidenko graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where he studied with the esteemed pianist and teacher Dmitri Bashkirov. He later served as Bashkirov’s assistant for five years. He received prizes at the Montreal International Competition and the International Tchaikovsky Competition. In 2014, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Surrey in recognition of his contribution to the field of music.

Alongside his career as a pianist, Nikolai actively engages in teaching, giving masterclasses and offering guidance to young performers worldwide. These events are organized by promoters in Australia, Germany, Russia, China, Greece, South Korea, and the UK (including the Menuhin School, where he was a piano professor from 1990 to 1997), as well as the University of Surrey. Since 2016, he has collaborated regularly with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, giving masterclasses to young pianists during the "Chopin and His Europe" Festival. He also participates in the International Piano Series in collaboration with the Haute École de Musique at the Conservatory of Fribourg in Switzerland.

He has been invited to serve on the juries of major piano competitions including the Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht (2011, 2014), the Leeds Piano Competition (2015), the Sydney Piano Competition (2016), the “Nutcracker” Moscow Competition (2017), and the 1st International Fryderyk Chopin Competition on Historical Instruments (2018). In 2022, he served as a juror for the ARD Music Competition in Munich, and in 2023 he returned as a jury member for the 2nd edition of the International Fryderyk Chopin Competition on Historical Instruments in Warsaw.

He left the UK 14 years ago and currently resides in Madrid, Spain.

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