Biography
The music reached a state of profound intimacy through his strongly expressive playing
– Badische Neueste Nachrichten
Niel du Preez has inspired live and radio/television audiences in the UK, continental Europe, the Far East and his native South Africa with his expressive and poetic solo playing, performances with leading orchestras and collaborations with chamber musicians from all around the world. His most recent collaboration comes in the form of a duo with Paris-based clarinettist Myriam Carrier. He is also the Artistic Director and Founder of the newly established ArtePiano Masterclass Series and the International ArtePiano E-competition.
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 a music scholar at the junior department of the now-called Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth South Africa, he continued his studies at the Stellenbosch Conservatoire of Music, 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 Ari Vardi, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Peter Feuchtwanger, Andzrej Jasinsky, Peter Eicher, Martino Tirimo, Anton Nel, Nelly-Ben Or, Melvyn Tan and Graham Fitch.
Upcoming/postponed performances for 2021/22 are scheduled for England, South Africa, Germany, Japan and for the ArtePiano Masterclasses in both Germany and Italy. Recent solo appearances include a live-streamed recital for the University of Stellenbosch South Africa, solo and duo recitals in Perth Australia, Beijing China, Frankfurt Germany, St. Martin-in-the-Field in London and St. John’s Smith Square. Other 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 a performances of Saint Saëns’s Piano Concerto no. 5 and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in central London.
Today Niel is a member of faculty at the St. Paul’s Cathedral School and King’s College School in London where he teaches piano. Recently he has been appointed as a faculty member and artist of TIPA (Tokyo International Piano Association).
