Niel Du Preez

Niel du Preez has inspired live and radio/television audiences in the UK, continental Europe, the Far East, Australia, and his native South Africa with his expressive and poetic solo playing, performances with leading orchestras and collaborations with chamber musicians. His most recent collaboration comes in the form of a duo with Paris-based clarinettist Myriam Carrier, as well as with Swedish cellist Kristin Malmbørg. Since 2020 he is the Artistic Director of the newly established International ArtePiano Festival & Piano Competition with residencies in Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Niel was awarded DAAD & SAMRO scholarships for overseas studies and has won numerous prizes at various national and international competitions, including the Oude Meester and FORTE music competitions in South Africa and the International Silvio Bengali Piano Competition in Italy. After his years as a music scholar at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth South Africa, he continued his piano studies at the Stellenbosch Conservatoire of Music in South Africa, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover and the Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe in Germany. Former teachers include Kaya Han, Christopher Oakden, Peter Nelson, Simone Kirsch and Barbara Van Wyk, and over time he has engaged with various acclaimed pianists and teachers such as Arie Vardi, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Peter Feuchtwanger, Andzrej Jasinsky, Peter Eicher, Lev Natochenny, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Martino Tirimo, Anton Nel, Nelly-Ben Or, Melvyn Tan, Albie Van Schalkwyck, and Graham Fitch.

Upcoming performances are scheduled for England, South Africa, Germany and Italy. Recent solo appearances include performances in Tbilisi Georgia, Rieti in Italy, Latymer in the United Kingdom, a series of 3 concerts for the London-based CityMusic Live platform, a recital for the University of Stellenbosch Foundation in London, solo and duo recitals in Perth Australia, Beijing China, Frankfurt Germany and St. Martin-in-the-Field and St. John’s Smith Square in London. Other past performances include recitals for the London based Blüthner Piano Concert Series, the Schubert Society, Winchelsea Arts, a concert tour in South Africa, as well as performances of Saint Saëns’s Piano Concerto no. 5 and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in central London.

Niel regularly gets invited to give piano master classes across the globe. Previous such engagements took him to China, Colombia, South Africa and Germany. Further such engagements for 2023 are planned for Italy, South Africa and the United States. He also has a strong passion for composing with a specific interest in film music.

Today, Niel is teaching piano at St. Paul’s Cathedral School and at King’s College School in Wimbledon, London.

“The music reached a state of profound intimacy through his strongly expressive playing” – Badische Neueste Nachrichten