Nika Shirocorad concert pianist, composer

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Nika started her piano studies at the age of 3 .

After graduating from a Conservatoire music education in the USSR, she was invited to the UK for debut solo recitals in 2003 and to become Scholar in Residence at the University of Huddersfield for 2004–5, during which time she studied piano with Jacques Rouvier at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM). In 2005 Nika gained the Myra Hess Trust Award, the Lord Snowdon Award, the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Award and the RNCM Main Entrance Award to enter the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester where she completed her postgraduate diploma (under the guidance of Peter Lawson and Norma Fisher) in July 2006.

In February 2006 she won the Chevillion-Bonnaud Prize at the Orléans International Piano Competition for the performance of her own composition Shadows (2006), and in April 2006 gave a debut recital tour in Tokyo, Japan. She received a commission from the Académie de Villecroze, France, for a new work for piano and CD, premiered at the Salle Cortot, Paris, in March 2007 . In November 2008 she made her debut in Sweden, giving recitals in Stockholm’s Royal Music Academy Hall.

In 2015 Nika graduated from Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London with a MMus degree in piano performance and the LRAM Royal Academy of Music teaching qualification.

Nika has performed as a soloist in numerous international festivals and has played concertos with professional orchestras in Eastern and Western Europe, piano solo recitals in Japan, including Tokyo Nikkei Concert Hall, Kyoto Concert Hall, and in the prestigious Manchester Midday Concerts Series at the Bridgewater Hall, UK.