Nikola Meeuwsen
Pianist
Nikola Meeuwsen (b. 2002) has already established a remarkably mature international career as a pianist of the younger generation. He made his full-length solo debut at the Royal Concertgebouw on January 19, 2024, performing works by Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann. In January 2025, he appeared for the third time as soloist with The Hague’s Residentie Orchestra, performing Chopin's First Piano Concerto. 2025 will also see the release of his debut solo album on the prestigious Channel Classics label. He performs at festivals and concert halls throughout Europe and records for radio stations including Bayerischer Rundfunk.
At age 20, Nikola became the youngest musician ever to receive the Grachtenfestival Prize and served as artist in residence at this Amsterdam festival in 2023. In 2019, he was awarded the Concertgebouw Young Talent Award. In 2014 he was the first prize winner of Concertgebouw Concours and in 2012 he won the Steinway Concours.
Nikola's international career continues to flourish. He has performed Grieg's Piano Concerto with the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague's renowned Dvořák Hall at the Rudolfinum, and
Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto with the Lithuanian National Orchestra in Dortmund. In Brussels, he joined forces with pianist Avedis Kouyoumdjian and Sinfonia Varsovia under Augustin Dumay for Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos. In February 2025, he performed Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto with the Belgian National Orchestra. His concerto repertoire also includes Rachmaninoff's Second, Tchaikovsky's First, Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto, and Beethoven's First and Third Piano Concertos. He has given multiple performances with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen, and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra.
Following his performance of Scriabin's Fourth Sonata at the Concertgebouw, artistic director and pianist Julius Drake invited Nikola to give a solo recital at the 2022 Machynlleth Festival in Wales. His June 2023 concert in Scotland earned a five-star review from The Times: "Meeuwsen's suave technique tapped right into the delicacy and beauty of everything he played, and the evanescent seemliness of the sound in Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin was enormously moving."
Nikola regularly collaborates with leading young musicians including Noa Wildschut, Benjamin Kruithof, SongHa Choi, Leonhard Baumgartner, and Alexander Warenberg. He also performs with his teacher and mentor Enrico Pace; their interpretation of Liszt's transcription for two pianos of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was a highlight of the 2019 Beethoven Festival at Amare. New concerts with Pace are planned for 2026.
Nikola's exceptional talent was recognized early on. He won the Steinway Competition at age nine in 2012 and the Royal Concertgebouw Competition in 2014. He has given solo recitals throughout the Netherlands and in Milan, Bologna, Trieste, Faro, and Imola. A welcome guest at festivals, he has performed at the Storioni Festival, Schiermonnikoog Chamber Music Festival, and Classical NOW! At the 2023 St. Magnus Festival in the Orkney Islands, he gave both a solo recital and performed with the Ragazze Quartet. He has collaborated with renowned musicians including Alexander Kerr, Augustin Dumay, Corina Belcea, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Nobuko Imai, and recently with Janine Jansen at the Sion Festival and Utrecht International Chamber Music Festival. He has also performed as a piano duo with pianists such as Denis Kozhukhin and Enrico Pace.
This summer, he will tour in Italy with the Netherlands Youth Orchestra performing Rachmaninoff's Paganini Rhapsody, and in September 2025, he will perform Brahms' Second Piano Concerto with the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna under Martijn Dendievel.
Nikola has studied with Marlies van Gent since 2010 and with Enrico Pace at the Accademia Pianistica in Imola since 2014. He is currently also a student at the Queen Elisabeth Chapel in Brussels, studying with Frank Braley and Avedis Kouyoumdjian.
At his home in The Hague, Nikola practices on a Bösendorfer grand piano, on loan from the National Musical Instruments Foundation (NMF).
Photo: Melle Meivogel