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Photo: Melle Meivogel

Nikola Meeuwsen (2002) has in recent years grown into a mature pianist who unites all qualities to have a great musical future ahead of him.

As a child, Nikola knew he wanted to be a pianist after listening to Horowitz's performance of the 3rd Piano Concerto by Sergei Rachmaninov. His enormous talent was soon recognized: Nikola has won various competitions from a young age, including the Steinway Competition in 2012 and the Royal Concertgebouw Competition in 2014. In 2019, the Concertgebouw awarded him the prestigious Concertgebouw Young Talent Award.

In the summer of 2022, Nikola won the prestigious Amsterdam Grachtenfestival Prize, making him the youngest winner to date. The jury of the Grachtenfesival Prize, consisting of Frederike Berntsen (music journalist), Cécile Gouder de Beauregard (programmer TivoliVredenburg) and Marlon Titre (head of the Classical Department, Royal Conservatoire The Hague and musician), motivated the award as follows:

Nikola Meeuwsen is characterized by his crystal clear musical thinking; in his playing, silence and movement coincide brilliantly. The way he thinks is pure poetry.

In the 2023 edition of the Grachtenfestival, Nikola will be given carte blanche as artist in residence to put together a number of concerts.

As a soloist, Nikola has performed with the Residentie Orkest and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. He has given solo recitals throughout the Netherlands and abroad (including in Milan, Bologna, Trieste, Faro and Imola). In 2024 he will make his recital debut in the Royal Concertgebouw.

Nikola Meeuwsen is a regular guest at festivals. He has played in the Storioni Festival, the Chamber Music Festival Schiermonnikoog, the International Chamber Music Festival Ede, Festival Classique and in festival Classical NOW! In 2022 he performed ed at the Gwyl Machynlleth Festival in Wales, at the invitation of the pianist and artistic director Julius Drake. June 2023 Nikola will make his debut at the St. Magnus Festival on the Orkney Islands. He will play a solo recital and perform in a concert with Dutch Ragazze Quartet.

Nikola has been studying with Marlies van Gent, and since 2014 with Enrico Pace at the prestigious Accademia Pianistica di Imola. He also studies at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel in Brussels with Frank Braley and Avedis Kouyoumdjian. As chamber musician he has performed with the Matangi Quartet, with violinist Alexander Kerr, with violist Vladimir Mendelssohn and in piano duos with Igor Roma, Anna Fedorova, Thomas Beijer and Enrico Pace.

The Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation (NMF) has loaned Nikola a beautiful Bösendorfer grand piano.