Nikolaj Leo Strauss was born in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance and grew up in a family with a rich musical tradition. He devoted himself to Chopin’s music from an early age and spent his first years of study in Poland, where he studied with Jerzy Sulikowski. He gave his first piano recital at 13 and undertook his first concert tour in Poland at 15. He studied at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana and the Ferenc Liszt Academy in Budapest in Kornel Zempleny’s class. His greatest artistic influence, however, was his teacher and mentor Adam Harasiewicz in Salzburg and Warsaw, who shaped him artistically for three decades. He attended masterclasses with Kevin Kenner in Krynica-PL and with Piotr Paleczny and Karl-Heinz Kämmerling as part of the Holland Music Sessions. He was also a pupil of Eduard Mamajev for a year, where he was introduced to the Russian piano school.

Nikolaj Leo Strauss’ concert programs are characterized by the Romantic period around Chopin, while also regularly turning to the Classical period, particularly Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert. He pays special attention to lesser-known and less frequently performed works, such as Chopin’s 1st Piano Sonata and Tchaikovsky’s 2nd Piano Concerto. His piano recitals have taken him to many European countries, as well as South America and Israel. His pianistic style is based on listening, deliberate use of tempo rubato, and a way of playing that recalls earlier times. He has performed chamber music with violinists Dominika Falger and Mariarosaria d’Aprile and regularly gives concerts as a Lied accompanist. After his debut with Chopin’s Rondeau à la Krakowiak at 18, he began performing regularly as a soloist with orchestras, with Chopin’s piano concertos taking centre stage. In 1999, on the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death, he was on UNESCO’s list of artists representing the Chopin Year.

In addition to piano music, Strauss has been involved in conducting and choral directing since his early youth, receiving his most important influences from his teacher Georg Mais and mentor Boguslaw Dawidow. He has conducted choirs continuously since 2001 and worked as a cantor for liturgical and Byzantine chant at Orthodox cathedrals in Budapest and Buenos Aires. He speaks fluent English, Italian, Polish, German, and Russian and lives in Lugano, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, where he currently teaches a large group of students.