In recent years, Dutch violinist Niek Baar has established himself as a charismatic and serious musician, captivating audiences at home and abroad. He has performed in such renowned venues as the Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Leipzig's Gewandhaus, Shanghai's Oriental Centre and Munich's Gasteig. Niek made his solo debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra at just 16, and has since become a regular soloist with orchestras such as the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Residentie Orkest in The Hague.
After winning numerous national and international competitions and awards, such as the Princess Christina Concours (1st prize, 2010), the International Solo Bach Competition in London (1st prize, 2012), the Grommek Prize at the Kronberg Festival in Germany, and the Kersjes Prize in the Netherlands, Niek's career took off in 2018 when he won first prize in the "Oskar Back" National Violin Competition. Since then, he has appeared as soloist with many Dutch orchestras, including the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonie Zuid-Nederland, and the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, with whom he recorded his debut album "Obsession" in 2022 for Channel Classics / Outhere Music.
A highlight of Niek's career was his recent return as soloist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, where he performed Max Bruch's "Scottish Fantasy" in three concerts at Rotterdam's Doelen and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. Other recent projects include performances with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie (works by Paganini, Bruch, and Schumann), the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss with Isabelle van Keulen (Mozart, Schnittke), the Israel Chamber Orchestra (Schumann), and the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra (Bruch). He has also given duo recitals with pianofortist Kristian Bezuidenhout at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Looking ahead to the 2024/25 season, Niek's program includes a concert tour of Germany with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Herford and their conductor Jonathan Bloxham (Dvořák), as well as a concerto recording and performance with the NFM Wroclaw Symphony Orchestra in Poland under Christoph Eschenbach (Dvořák). Niek's third album, featuring works by Schumann and Bruch with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and conductor Christoph Poppen, was released on Channel Classics / Outhere Music in autumn 2024.
Niek has developed an intensive, long-term musical collaboration with American pianist Ben Kim. Together, they have given duo recitals at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Berlin's Konzerthaus and Munich's Gasteig (broadcast live by BR-Klassik), culminating in their Essen Philharmonic debut in November 2021. In 2018, they recorded a CD for 'Avrotros Klassiek' featuring duo works by Kreisler, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.
Niek has a particular affinity for the music of Robert Schumann, who fascinates him both as a composer and a person. Schumann’s three violin sonatas and his rarely performed violin concerto are central to Niek's repertoire. In 2023, he released an album of Schumann's violin sonatas with pianist Ben Kim on the Channel Classics / Outhere Music label, which received 5-star reviews from Trouw, Nederlands Dagblad, and Music Magazine Diapason.
Born in Rotterdam in 1991, Niek began violin lessons at the age of eight. At the age of twelve, he was admitted to the preparatory program at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where he studied with Mireille van der Wart and Peter Brunt, graduating cum laude in 2012. He then continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik 'Hanns Eisler' in Berlin under Stephan Picard, obtaining his master's degree with distinction in 2016. Since then, Niek has continued his studies in Munich with Christoph Poppen. Other influential mentors include Mihaela Martin and Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma.
Niek plays on the 'ex Vornbaum' violin, crafted by Carlo Bergonzi in Cremona in 1729. This instrument, which belongs to the Tjardus Greidanus Foundation in Amsterdam, has been on loan to Niek since 2014.
Despite his frequent travels abroad, Niek remains strongly attached to his native Netherlands. As well as performing in numerous concerts there, he is an ambassador for the bforyou foundation, dedicated to creating opportunities for children in his native Rotterdam. Niek is also in the process of setting up a foundation to lend instruments to talented young violinists in the Netherlands.
"In a musical world certainly not lacking in pianists, Ben Kim is one of the chosen few whose playing goes beyond the simple magic of the keyboard and the beauty of the sound. Kim is a storyteller who knows how to captivate his audience from the first note to the last." - Berliner Morgenpost | Mario Felix Vogt
American pianist Ben Kim's performances were hailed as "practically euphoric and full of vitality" by the Süddeutsche Zeitung called "practically euphorie and filled with vitality" and have gained an increasing reputation for an exciting sensibility and integrity. The first prize winner of the 55th ARD International Music Competition for piano, he has received rave reviews for his performances around the world, in such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Gewandhaus, Suntory Hall, and the Kennedy Center, with symphony orchestras such as those of Bavarian Radio, German Radio, Leipzig, Baltimore, Kyushu, Seoul, and the Hermitage State Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg.
In 2017, Ben Kim was the winner of the Rheingau Music Festival's LOTTO Career Development Award. The international jury commented, "His brilliant technique and incredible flair for interpretive refinement are evident... an exceptional phenomenon among pianists of his generation - such natural, sympathetic charisma and pleasing modesty, combined with great virtuosity, are rarely encountered in a leading musician."
In 2012, he was one of six winners selected from over 13,000 Johns Hopkins University graduates to receive a Outstanding Recent Graduate Award for outstanding achievement or service in any professional field. Ben's recording of Chopin's Preludes and Impromptus, published by Universal Decca, has been chosen as a Editor's Choice by Record Geijutsu. The reviewer describes this album by saying, "Without nervousness or overexcitement, without technical demonstration or exaggeration, Kim plays Chopin's music as if he were breathing it."
He has additional recordings out on Sony Classical and Klavier-Festival Ruhr labels featuring works by his favorite composers, including Mozart, Debussy and Schumann. Ben's most recent recordings of Mozart Piano Concertos (Nos. 11-13, 17, 23-25) with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra on Challenge Records have also been critically acclaimed.
Ben has performed at international festivals such as Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Festspielen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau Musik Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Schumann Festival Bonn, Sommets Musicaux Gstaad, EuroArt Prague, and the Ravinia and Aspen music festivals.
Ben was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, where he began studying piano at the age of five with Dorothy Fahlman. He received his Bachelor's degree from Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Leon Fleisher, and continued his studies with Yong Hi Moon. In addition, Ben was selected to attend the Lake Como International Piano Academy in Italy, a program for seven pianists led by Martha Argerich and William Grant Naboré. He completed his studies at Berlin University of the Arts with Klaus Hellwig.
Ben is a longtime member of the German Alpine Society (Deutsche Alpenverein) and resides in Berlin.
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