Bio
Mikołaj Woźniak is a Polish pianist born in 2003 in Zielona Góra. He studies at the Hochschule für Musik Basel in the class of Professor Claudio Martínez-Mehner.
He is a laureate of numerous first prizes at national and international piano competitions. In recent years, he has worked with artists such as Eldar Nebolsin, Kirill Gerstein, Robert Levin, and Andreas Staier. In 2023, he was selected as one of twelve pianists from around the world to participate in masterclasses and concerts at the Oxford Piano Festival. A year later, he had the opportunity to work with one of the most significant living composers, György Kurtág.
In April 2025, further developing his engagement with contemporary music, he studied the performance of chamber and solo works by Thomas Adès in masterclasses and has since continued to deepen his understanding of contemporary repertoire under his guidance. One month later, he performed Karol Szymanowski’s Symphonie concertante with the Basel Symphony Orchestra.
Mikołaj adapts his interpretations to each concert space and artistic context, dedicating equal attention to solo and chamber repertoire. His regular stage activity began in 2018 with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Cairo Opera House with the National Orchestra of Egypt. In the same year, he performed works by Karol Szymanowski at Carnegie Hall in New York. A year later, he played Johann Sebastian Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor with the Gorzów Philharmonic, and in 2021 he was invited back to Cairo to perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor.
He has appeared in prestigious concert halls across Europe, Asia, and the United States and regularly collaborates with other musicians in chamber music projects. Together with cellist Michał Balas, he forms the Duo Balas–Woźniak, which was portrayed in a short documentary film by the Scandinavian Cello School. Polish violinist Wojciech Niedziółka frequently joins the ensemble, enabling performances of piano trio repertoire. Both ensembles perform actively in Poland and abroad, with their regular presence on the Basel music scene supported by the For Young Musicians Foundation.
Mikołaj is a recipient of the Young Poland Scholarship, as well as scholarships from the Centre for Artistic Education, the President of the City of Zielona Góra, and the Marshal of the Lubusz Voivodeship. He is also a laureate of the Klasyka Gatunku award granted by the Polish edition of Elle magazine.
He began his musical education with Aleksandra Fudali-Matusewicz at the Mieczysław Karłowicz Primary Music School in Zielona Góra and later continued his studies with Olga Łazarska at the Władysław Żeleński Secondary Music School in Kraków. Since 2014, he has been actively supported by the Europäische Stiftung der Rahn Dittrich Group in Leipzig, while his artistic development has been guided throughout all stages of his education by Professor Helgeheide Schmidt.
In March 2026, his piano trio with Michał Balas and Wojciech Niedziółka was selected as one of the ensembles participating in the MERITAcubed European Programme coordinated by Le Dimore del Quartetto. In April, he received the Kiefer Hablitzel Musikpreis as well as the Prix Collard in Bern. In July, he will participate in the Soloist Academy of the Verbier Festival.
Among the highlights of his planned engagements in 2026 is György Kurtág’s Double Concerto, Op. 27 No. 2, in which he will appear as soloist under the baton of Maestro Heinz Holliger.
He is a laureate of numerous first prizes at national and international piano competitions. In recent years, he has worked with artists such as Eldar Nebolsin, Kirill Gerstein, Robert Levin, and Andreas Staier. In 2023, he was selected as one of twelve pianists from around the world to participate in masterclasses and concerts at the Oxford Piano Festival. A year later, he had the opportunity to work with one of the most significant living composers, György Kurtág.
In April 2025, further developing his engagement with contemporary music, he studied the performance of chamber and solo works by Thomas Adès in masterclasses and has since continued to deepen his understanding of contemporary repertoire under his guidance. One month later, he performed Karol Szymanowski’s Symphonie concertante with the Basel Symphony Orchestra.
Mikołaj adapts his interpretations to each concert space and artistic context, dedicating equal attention to solo and chamber repertoire. His regular stage activity began in 2018 with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Cairo Opera House with the National Orchestra of Egypt. In the same year, he performed works by Karol Szymanowski at Carnegie Hall in New York. A year later, he played Johann Sebastian Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor with the Gorzów Philharmonic, and in 2021 he was invited back to Cairo to perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor.
He has appeared in prestigious concert halls across Europe, Asia, and the United States and regularly collaborates with other musicians in chamber music projects. Together with cellist Michał Balas, he forms the Duo Balas–Woźniak, which was portrayed in a short documentary film by the Scandinavian Cello School. Polish violinist Wojciech Niedziółka frequently joins the ensemble, enabling performances of piano trio repertoire. Both ensembles perform actively in Poland and abroad, with their regular presence on the Basel music scene supported by the For Young Musicians Foundation.
Mikołaj is a recipient of the Young Poland Scholarship, as well as scholarships from the Centre for Artistic Education, the President of the City of Zielona Góra, and the Marshal of the Lubusz Voivodeship. He is also a laureate of the Klasyka Gatunku award granted by the Polish edition of Elle magazine.
He began his musical education with Aleksandra Fudali-Matusewicz at the Mieczysław Karłowicz Primary Music School in Zielona Góra and later continued his studies with Olga Łazarska at the Władysław Żeleński Secondary Music School in Kraków. Since 2014, he has been actively supported by the Europäische Stiftung der Rahn Dittrich Group in Leipzig, while his artistic development has been guided throughout all stages of his education by Professor Helgeheide Schmidt.
In March 2026, his piano trio with Michał Balas and Wojciech Niedziółka was selected as one of the ensembles participating in the MERITAcubed European Programme coordinated by Le Dimore del Quartetto. In April, he received the Kiefer Hablitzel Musikpreis as well as the Prix Collard in Bern. In July, he will participate in the Soloist Academy of the Verbier Festival.
Among the highlights of his planned engagements in 2026 is György Kurtág’s Double Concerto, Op. 27 No. 2, in which he will appear as soloist under the baton of Maestro Heinz Holliger.
