Biography
Niel du Preez has inspired live and radio audiences in the UK, continental Europe and his native South Africa with his expressive and poetic solo playing, performances with leading orchestras and collaborations with chamber musicians.
His latest season includes recitals in St. Martin-in-the-Fields and The Forge along with master classes for the annual Piano Week Summer Festival at Bangor University in Wales.
Niel was awarded DAAD & SAMRO scholarships for overseas studies, and has won 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.
He trained at the Stellenbosch Conservatoire of Music, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover and the Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe. Former teachers include Christopher Oakden, Peter Nelson, Kaya Han and Simone Kirsch, and over time he’s engaged with various acclaimed pianists and teachers such as Ari Vardi, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Peter Feuchtwanger, Andzrej Jasinsky, Peter Eicher, Martino Tirimo, Nelly-Ben Or, Melvyn Tan and Graham Fitch.
Today Niel is a member of faculty at the St. Paul’s Cathedral School in London where he teaches piano.