Adam Neiman

About Me

Hailed as one of today’s preeminent American classical pianists, Adam Neiman has cultivated a breathtaking career spanning more than three decades and traversing four continents. Possessed of an encyclopedic repertoire – nearly seventy piano concertos, dozens of diverse solo recital programs, and virtually the entire canon of standard chamber music – Mr. Neiman has been universally acclaimed as a thought-provoking, charismatic, and highly virtuosic performer, whose continually expanding discography has granted him a rarified legacy among 21st-century performers.

Born in 1978, Adam Neiman’s trajectory as a concert pianist began at the age of eight, immediately gaining momentum with a succession of regional and national competition triumphs, recital and concerto appearances across the United States, and successful forays onto the international concert and competition circuit by his early teens. After making his Los Angeles concerto debut at Royce Hall at age 11, Clavier Magazine wrote, "Adam Neiman gave a performance that rivaled those of many artists on the concert stage today...his playing left listeners shaking their heads in disbelief." At fourteen, he debuted in Germany at the Ivo Pogorelich Festival, and at fifteen, he won second prize at the Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy, the youngest medalist in the competition's history. During his freshman year – as a 17-year old undergraduate piano major at the Juilliard School ­– Mr. Neiman won three of America’s most prestigious classical music awards: an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Nominated during the same year for a Grammy Award, he subsequently graduated from the Juilliard School in 1999 as a recipient of the school’s highest honors: the rarely-bestowed Rubinstein Award, and as a two-time winner of its Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.

Mr. Neiman went on to make debuts with prestigious symphony orchestras across the globe, including those of Belgrade, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Slovenia, Umbria, and Utah, in addition to the Sejong Soloists, New York Chamber Symphony, and National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C. He collaborated with many of the world’s celebrated conductors, including David Atherton, Jiri Belohlavek, Michael Francis, Giancarlo Guerrero, Theodor Gushlbauer, Carlos Kalmer, Uros Lajovic, Yoël Levi, Andrew Litton, Rossen Milanov, Heichiro Ohyama, Peter Oundjian, Leonard Slatkin, Osmo Vänska, and Emmanuel Villaume. As a recitalist, Neiman performed in major cities and concert halls throughout North America, as well as in Italy, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Serbia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

During the current post-pandemic season, Neiman resumes his public performance activities with performances of both his first and second piano concertos as well as the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with orchestras in the Midwest. Prior to the global pandemic shutdown, his 2019-2020 concert season included recital bookings in Warsaw, Poland, a CD on Avie with violinist Frank Almond (Grieg Violin Sonata in C minor), and a CD on Aeolian Classics with flutist Anastasiya Ganzenko (duos by Fauré and Prokofieff). During recent concert seasons (2011-2019), Neiman dedicated himself to the extensive performance and recording of three monumental solo projects: the complete Liszt Transcendental Études (2017 Aeolian Classics, DVD), Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata paired with the Diabelli Variations (2018 Aeolian Classics, 2-CD set), and Rachmaninoff’s complete Preludes, Études-Tableaux, & Cinq Morceaux de Fantaisie (2018 Aeolian Classics, 3-CD set).

A sought-after chamber musician, Neiman regularly performs at festivals and chamber series across the globe. Initially a founding member of the Corinthian Trio (with violinist Stefan Milenkovich and cellist Ani Aznavoorian), Neiman later became a member of Trio Solisti for three seasons, capping his tenure with the ensemble with a presentation of the complete chamber music of Brahms at Carnegie Hall in 2015. His affiliation with Trio Solisti culminated in three critically acclaimed chamber music recordings on Bridge Records, which augmented an already extensive catalogue of recordings released on BHM, Lyric Records, MSR Classics, Naxos, Onyx, Sono Luminus, and VAI.

Mr. Neiman is an accomplished composer, with a catalogue of compositions that includes two symphonies, two piano concertos, a string quartet, and various solo and chamber works. Recent commissions include his Concerto No. 1 for Piano & Strings for the Manchester Music Festival, Concerto No. 2 for Piano & Winds for the Chicago College of Performing Arts, his Trio No. 2 for Clarinet, Violin, & Piano for the Northshore Chamber Music Festival, and his String Quartet for the Seattle Chamber Music Society. His various documentary film appearances as a pianist resulted in his eventual contribution as a composer to the PBS documentary by Emmy Award-winning director Helen Whitney entitled: “Forgiveness, A Time to Love and a Time to Hate.”

Beyond his creative activities as a pianist and composer, Mr. Neiman has achieved renown as an industry leader, pedagogue, entrepreneur, and record producer. He is currently in his sixth year as Artistic Director of the Manchester Music Festival in Vermont, which presents world-class chamber music concerts during its annual summer festival. Neiman is a tenured Associate Professor of Piano at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he was also recently appointed as Chair of the Music Conservatory.  He is CEO of Aeolian Classics, LLC, which, in addition to releasing top-tier classical music recordings, co-sponsors with Roosevelt University an annual competition: the Aeolian Classics Emerging Artist Competition. The yearly laureate of the Aeolian Classics Emerging Artist Award (entering its seventh edition) receives a debut album on Aeolian Classics, organized and produced by Mr. Neiman.

Mr. Neiman’s studies began at the age of five – first under the guidance of his mother, then privately with Trula Whelan, Hans Boepple, and Dame Fanny Waterman, DBE. At 17 years old, Neiman entered the Juilliard School, studying principally with Herbert Stessin while also working closely with György Sandor and Jacob Lateiner. He graduated from the Juilliard School with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance.

For more information, visit www.adamneiman.com.