Biography Peter Caelen
Pianist Peter Caelen gives concerts at prestigious venues across Europa, such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, De Doelen in Rotterdam, the Rhein Mosel Halle in Koblenz, the Saarbrücker Kammerkonzerte, the Great Hall of the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, Holywell Music Room in Oxford and many other venues in Europe. In recent years, he has been performing more and more in Asia. In China, he gave concerts in more than 30 cities at venues such as Beijing Concert Hall, Daning Theatre in Shanghai, Shenzhen Concert Hall and Qingdao Grand Theatre Concert Hall! In 2022, he travelled to Indonesia with his former student David Voncken for concerts and master classes in Jakarta, Medan and Semarang. He is also a welcome guest at festivals such as the Klevischer Klaviersommer (Germany), the Kamarihelmi Festival (Finland), the Spectrum Festival (Slovenia), the Alba Music Festival (Italy), Krakow Musical Autumn (Poland) and Klassz a Parton (Hungary).
During his concert tours, Peter Caelen is regularly accompanied by cellist Olsi Leka with whom he forms a regular duo. Since the beginning of their collaboration, they have performed all over Europe and far beyond. As a chamber musician, however, he works with numerous other musicians as well, including violinists Simone Lamsma and Esther Yoo, clarinettist Roeland Hendrikx, the Atrium and Carducci String Quartets, members of the Belgian National Orchestra and the wind players of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
Peter Caelen won a first prize of the Prinses Christina Concours in Den Bosch and was a finalist of the International Johannes Brahms Wettbewerb in Pörtschach (Austria). He was awarded a diploma during the World Music Competition Ibla Grand Prize in Italy. Muziekgebouw Frits Philips in Eindhoven presented him as ‘Zuiderlicht’ in 2005, giving him the opportunity to create his own concert series.
Besides a CD with cellist Olsi Leka, several solo CDs have appeared. He could also be heard on radio stations such as Radio Vier, Musiq’3, KLARA and SWR. He gave masterclasses in England, Finland, Belgium and Indonesia.
Since its foundation in 2006, he has been the inspirational leader of the Excellent Concerts, an internationally renowned series with venues in the Netherlands and Belgium. He is also programmer of the Muziek Klassiek Gulpen series.
Peter Caelen studied at the Conservatories of Maastricht and Amsterdam with Frans van Beveren, Joop Celis and Willem Brons. He continued his studies with Peter Feuchtwanger in London and Thomas Duis in Saarbrücken. Furthermore he has taken part in masterclasses with musicians such as Peter Donohoe, Lazar Berman, Eugen Indjic, Piotr Paleczny and Jan Michiels.
Biography Peter Caelen
Pianist Peter Caelen studied at the Conservatories of Maastricht and Amsterdam with Frans van Beveren, Joop Celis and Willem Brons. He continued his studies with Peter Feuchtwanger in London and Thomas Duis in Saarbrücken. Furthermore he has taken part in masterclasses with musicians such as Peter Donohoe, Lazar Berman, Eugen Indjic, Piotr Paleczny and Jan Michiels.Peter Caelen plays concerts throughout Europe and China at major venues and series such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Beijing Concert Hall, the Shandong Grand Theatre Concert Hall in Jinan, Holywell Music Room in Oxford, Brussels Royal Conservatory Main Hall and Concerts de Midi, the Saarbrücker Kammerkonzerte, the Rhein Mosel Halle in Koblenz and Sellosali in Espoo. Furthermore he is also to be heard at festivals such as the the Klevischer Klaviersommer, the Mendelssohn-Tage, the Kamarihelmi Festival, the International Festival Summer in Old Ljubljana Town, the Alba Music Festival and the Euro Chamber Music Festival Gdansk. As a soloist he performed with several orchestras and as a chamber musician he works with numerous musicians such as violinists Simone Lamsma, Esther Yoo, Lisanne Soeterbroek and Hans van Kerckhoven, cellist Olsi Leka, the Carducci and Atrium String Quartets, members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks and the wind soloists of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. In 2017 he toured China performing the complete works for violin and piano by Brahms with violinist Volodja Balzalorsky in thirteen concerts.
An excellent and versatile craftsman (Eindhovens Dagblad)
Caelen won a first prize in the Princess Christina Competition in Den Bosch (The Netherlands). and was a finalist in the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach (Austria). He was awarded a diploma during the World Music Competition Ibla Grand Prize in Italy. The Frits Philips Music Hall in Eindhoven presented him as ‘Zuiderlicht’ in 2005 and he was given the opportunity to compose his own concert series.
Peter Caelen was to be heard on several occasions on both Dutch and foreign broadcasting networks like Radio 4, Musiq’3 and SWR. Several solo cd’s appeared as well as a cd with cellist Olsi Leka. Peter Caelen was invited to give masterclasses in the United Kingdom, Finland and Belgium. Besides he is a frequent jury member in competitions both in the Netherlands and abroad (a.o. Belfius Classics).
Peter Caelen is Director of the Excellent Concerts near Maastricht (The Netherlands). From 2014 he has as well been appointed artistic leader of the foundation Muziek Klassiek Gulpen (The Netherlands).
