Thomas Beijer
By winning the Young Pianist Foundation National Piano Competition in 2007, Thomas Beijer placed himself at the top of a new generation of young pianists in the Netherlands. The international jury described him as “a very interesting musical personality with distinctive ideas about music. A true artist.”
Since then, Beijer has given recitals in Europe, Asia and the United States, and has worked as a soloist with conductors such as Neeme Järvi, Gustavo Gimeno, Ed Spanjaard, Bas Wiegers and Lucas Macías Navarro.
Thomas Beijer is a versatile musician with a broad repertoire that ranges from seventeenth-century music to contemporary compositions. He has a special affinity with Spanish music: in 2019 he played Isaac Albéniz’s complete suite Iberia at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, a performance that was widely praised in the press. De Volkskrant wrote: “Beijer guided you along, into the story behind the notes. (…) And each time there was a carefully guarded balance between fire and internalization, between Spanish passion and the universal emotion of unfulfilled desire.” It also led to an invitation to play in the series Master Pianists.
Beijer is a passionate chamber musician and plays with cellist Quirine Viersen, violinist Simone Lamsma and singers Judith van Wanroij, Barbara Kozelj and Laetitia Gerards. He is also a regular guest at Camerata RCO, the chamber music ensemble consisting of members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
In addition to his pianist career, Thomas Beijer is also a composer. One of his most recent works is the song cycle “A Lock without a Key” – songs inspired by the COVID-19 lockdown – composed for soprano Laetitia Gerards, with whom he performed the cycle live on Radio 4 and recorded it for the AvroTros. He is currently working on a concerto for jazz violin and orchestra.
In 2009, Beijer’s first CD was released, containing works by Brahms. This was followed by CDs with music by Albéniz, De Falla, Granados, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Rudolf Escher and Frank Martin, as well as his own compositions. On his most recent CD, he performs as a soloist in Poulenc’s piano concerto Aubade, which he recorded together with Camerata RCO and conductor Yu Lu.
Beijer (Haarlem, 1988) studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Jan Wijn, where he graduated with the highest distinction in 2011. He then continued his piano studies with Cuban pianist Jorge Luis Prats, and took masterclasses with Emanuel Ax, Menahem Pressler, Murray Perahia, Pacal Devoyon, Jacques Rouvier and Elza Kolodin. Beijer also took composition lessons with Elmer Schönberger in Amsterdam and Malcolm Singer in London.
In addition to his career as a pianist and composer, Thomas Beijer is active as a writer and illustrator. In 2017, he made his debut with the Prometheus publishing house with the novella Geen Jalapeños. He is currently working on a collection of essays about music. Since 2019, Thomas Beijer has been artistic director of the Young Pianist Foundation.
In 2022, Thomas Beijer received the Dutch Music Prize, the highest award given by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to a musician working in classical music.
Photo: Maarten Kools
