NIKOLA MEEUWSEN WINS QUEEN ELISABETH COMPETITION 2025

 

In 2025, Nikola Meeuwsen (born 2002) made history by becoming the first Dutch pianist to win the First Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. This triumph has given his young and admirable career a powerful boost. Upcoming highlights in the 2025-26 season include a solo recital in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam’s Great Pianists series, engagements with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, an appearance in the NTR ZaterdagMatinee series, and major tours across China, Korea, Japan, and Brazil. 

Nikola draws deep inspiration from the individualistic and expressive style of Romantic-era pianists like Horowitz, Cortot and Rachmaninov. Critics praise Nikola for his rich palette of colours, compelling artistic vision, and personal style, which balances power with poetry.

Already in demand across Europe, Meeuwsen made his solo debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 2024. He has since performed with orchestras such as the Belgian National Orchestra, the Residentie Orkest The Hague, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, Nikola has collaborated with renowned artists including Janine Jansen, Alexander Kerr, Augustin Dumay, Corina Belcea, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Nobuko Imai, as well as leading young musicians such as Noa Wildschut, Benjamin Kruithof, SongHa, Leonhard Baumgartner and Alexander Warenberg. He also regularly performs with his teacher and mentor, Enrico Pace. In recent seasons, Nikola has appeared at prestigious festivals such as the Storioni Festival, the Chamber Music Festival Schiermonnikoog, Classical NOW!, and the St. Magnus Festival.

Nikola displayed exceptional talent from a very early age - winning the Steinway Competition at just nine. He has studied with Marlies van Gent since 2010 and with Enrico Pace at the renowned Accademia Pianistica in Imola since 2014. In 2019, he received the Concertgebouw Young Talent Award and since 2022, he has been an artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where he studies with Frank Braley and Avedis Kouyoumdjian. 

Nikola has recorded for prominent radio broadcasters such as Bayerischer Rundfunk and NPO Klassiek. His debut album with works by Mendelssohn, Liszt, Schumann and Bach / Busoni is released late 2025 on the Channel Classics Records label. 

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At home in The Hague, Nikola Meeuwsen practices on a Bösendorfer grand piano generously loaned by the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation (NMF). 

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