An Iowa College in the Liberal Arts Tradition
Piano
Adam Żukiewicz
Piano
A native of Poland, Adam Piotr Żukiewicz has performed across Europe, United States, Canada, Japan and Brazil. He has appeared many times on TV in Poland and in Canada. Highlights of recent North American appearances include debut concerts with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Sinfonietta, Toronto Concert Orchestra and Celebrity Symphony Orchestra.
Maintaining an active international career Adam Żukiewicz performs solo recitals as well as chamber music concerts with his recently founded Max Joseph Trio and other renowned instrumentalists and vocalists in USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong and Poland. Highlights of recent international performances include a debut recital at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona (March 2014) as well as a debut at the Residenztheater during the 2013 Munich Opera Festival Chamber Music Concert Series, performing a chamber music concert with Max Joseph Trio and members of the Bayerische Staatsorchester.
Competition successes include several first prizes in competitions in Poland, First Prize at the 2012 Shean Piano Competition in Canada, First Prize at the 2011 TD Canada Trust Music Competition, and Second Prize at the 13th Pacific Piano Competition in 2011 in Richmond, BC. Most recently Adam Żukiewicz became a medalist of the 2014 Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, Spain.
As an avid performer of new music, Adam Żukiewicz regularly performs modern works, including several premieres of new compositions; most recently Zdenek Trnka's Cervnova nokturna (sonata pro klavir) (1996-2009), John Beckwith's Follow me (2013) with clarinetist Peter Stoll and an Italian premiere of the Thoma Gaqi's Valle Symphonike No.2 with pianist Gjergji Gaqi (2012). Adam Żukiewicz's interest in modern music resulted in commissioning works from modern composers such as Bryan Christian and Wendy Lee.
Always keen on exploring new musical experiences, Adam Żukiewicz joined the Bayerische Staatsoper for the 2015 production of Alban Berg's Lulu, under the artistic direction of Kirill Petrenko.
Enthused by sharing music, thoughts and experiences of music, Adam Żukiewicz also enjoys teaching, lecturing as well as impromptu performances and musical discussions with musicians and music lovers alike. Beyond music he takes pleasure in reading, connecting with people, sports, travel, and nature, which he finds most inspiring.
Adam Żukiewicz holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Toronto and Masters of Music degree from Indiana University. He has also studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, and was a music scholar at the United World College of the Adriatic in Duino, Italy. His doctoral dissertation "Chopin's Third Piano Sonata, Op. 58: Late Style, Formal Ambiguity, and Performance Considerations" was published in 2013 by Lambert Academic Publishing.
Adam Żukiewicz served as faculty at the University of Toronto, St Michael's Choir School in Toronto, and at the International Music Festival of the Adriatic. His students' studied in such renowned institutions as Indiana University and Eastman School of Music and their successes include various festival and competition prizes in Canada and beyond.
Adam Żukiewicz currently resides in Greeley, Colorado, where he was recently appointed an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Northern Colorado.
Nicholas Shaneyfelt
Vocal Coach and Associate Director
Nicholas Shaneyfelt is Visiting Assistant Professor of Music in Collaborative Piano at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He completed his doctoral studies in the Collaborative Piano studio of Martin Katz at the University of Michigan. Prior to Michigan, he served as Staff Accompanist for the Department of Music and Dance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with regular involvements at the Northampton Community Music Center, Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, and the UMass Newman Center. He currently accompanies Luther College’s Nordic Choir, and has accompanied the Chamber Choir and Chorale at UMass under the direction of Tony Thornton, the UMass Conducting Institute, the South Hadley Chorale, and regional honor choirs and choral societies in western Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine.
Originally from Knightstown, Indiana, Dr. Shaneyfelt received Bachelor’s degrees in Music and Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame, and a Master of Music degree from UMass with a dual focus in Solo and Collaborative Piano. At UMass, he was the recipient of the 2011 Eugenie May Piano Award. While at Notre Dame, he was the winner of the university’s concerto competition. His piano trio, “The Nora Trio,” was the first Notre Dame chamber ensemble to be selected as a finalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Notable recent performances include the premiere of David Amram’s Greenwich Village Portraits with saxophonist Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, recital tours with soprano Katie Calcamuggio-Donner, engagements in Los Angeles, New York City, and the Kennedy Center through the University of Michigan’s Gershwin Initiative, and Winterreise with tenor William Hite.
Nicholas has studied with John Blacklow, Nadine Shank, Estela Olevsky, and Gilles Vonsattel.