Nicolas van Poucke

Pianist Nicolas van Poucke is steadily making a name for himself as soloist and chamber musician.
He debuted at age 13 in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and since then also appeared in Germany, France, Switserland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Cananda, the UK and the USA.

Nicolas was first prize winner of the 2006 Princes Christina Competition and 2006 Steinway & Sons International Piano Competition where also received the audience award.
In 2009 he received the prize for ‘the best interpretation of a work of J.S. Bach’ during the European Union Piano Competition in Prague and in 2010 he won the highest prize in his age category in the National Piano Competition in Amsterdam.
In 2013 Nicolas won both the first prize and audience award during the Grachtenfestival Competition in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam after which he gave televised concert with Igor Roma during the Grachtenfestival that same year.

Van Poucke has been a guest at many festival like Het Grachtenfestival, Internationaal Kamermuziek Festival Utrecht, Krzyzowa-Music and Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern.
Nicolas performed concertos by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Gershwin, Poulenc and Rachmaninoff with different orchestras in the Netherlands.
Nicolas’ debut album titled “I believe in Bach, the Father, Beethoven, the Son and Brahms, the Holy Ghost of Music” released in 2013 was received enthusiastically by the Dutch press.
The Volkskrant wrote: "A CD that grabs you though an awesome concentration and a beautifully developed sense of timing” and NRC Handelsblad praised the album “Van Poucke honors the three B’ s with bravoure…..he does justice to Brahms’ roaring depths…” and Haarlems Dagblad: “Nicolas’ playing is full of respect and ideas to bring the old master to life”.

An accomplished and passionate chamber musician Nicolas performs regularly with his sister cellist Ella van Poucke with a broad repertoire ranging from Bach to Schnittke and Messiaen.
Nicolas also performs regularly with members from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Camerata RCO) and was a regular guest with the Amsterdam Chamber Music Society where he worked with musicians like Christiaan Bor, Godfried Hoogeveen and Jean-Claude vanden Eynden.
Other chamber music partners include renowned musicians like Colin Carr, Claudio Bohorquez, Andreas Reiner, Godfried Hoogeveen, The Rubens Quartet, Judith Serkin, Emmy Verhey, Igor Roma and Walter Delahunt.

Nicolas started taking piano lessons at age six and studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory with David Kuyken and Jan Wijn. He also received some lessons from Murray Perahia and studied at the Verbier Festival Academy with Emanuel Ax, Dmitri Bashkirov and Stephen Kovacevich. Nicolas also enjoyed masterclasses with Gary Graffman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jean Bernard Pommier, Maria Joao Pires, Menahem Pressler and Pascal Devoyon.