Kristian Podlacha
Piano, Guitar, Composition
Kristian Fourier is a professional Pianist, Guitarist and composer whose work has taken him across the globe.
In 2018, he performed for Prime Minister Trudeau in the Swiss Alps, with Pulitzer and Grammy winner Caroline Shaw at the Banff Centre for the Arts, premiered Against the Grain Opera’s “orphee+” in Toronto (which won 5 Dora Awards), toured with Cirque du Soleil, and performed at various festivals including TIFF, Luminato and Pride. In summer 2018, he returned to the Banff Centre as Guest Lecturer, performing “orphee+” again to a sold out audience, and was a Guest Artist in New York at GakkoNYC.
A passionate educator, Kristian loves watching that spark of understanding a student grasps a concept for the first time. He specializes in breaking down complex topics in a clear, engaging and conversational way.
He is a mentor at a number of music workshops including Music From Scratch at the Canadian Music Centre and GakkoNYC.
He studied at the University of Toronto on the Alexander Kinghorn and Music Alumni scholarships. He continued his studies at the School of Improv NYC, Toronto Creative Music Lab, WRCMS, Tafelmusik Baroque Institute and was honoured to be Spectrum Music Canada’s 2017 “New Voices Composer-in-Residence”.
His work has been funded by the SOCAN Foundation and Ontario Council for the Arts.