RALPH VAN RAAT

Pianist and musicologist Ralph van Raat (1978) appears as a recitalist in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. He takes special interest in the performance of contemporary classical music and has worked closely with many composers on the interpretation of their piano works, with John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Gavin Bryars, Jonathan Harvey, Tan Dun, György Kurtág, Magnus Lindberg, Arvo Pärt, Frederic Rzewski and Sir John Tavener. Many composers have dedicated their piano compositions and piano concertos to van Raat.

Highlights of the coming year’s performances include van Raat’s Carnegie Hall début (October 2018) and the complete Études for piano solo by Ligeti (March 2018).

Ralph van Raat writes regularly on music and gives interviews as well as lecture/recitals, recognizing these as opportunities to enhance performances with his personal knowledge of, and dedication to, contemporary music.

Van Raat performs regularly as a soloist with orchestras including London Sinfonietta, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Dortmunder Philharmoniker. He has worked closely with conductors including Tan Dun, Valery Gergiev, JoAnn Falletta, David Robertson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Susanna Mälkki, Stefan Asbury, Michel Tabachnik, John Adams and Otto Tausk.

He has performed as a soloist at important festivals including the symphonic opening concert of the Gergiev Festival, the BBC Proms, the Festival International de Musique de Besançon, the Holland Festival, the Time of Music festival in Viitasaari, Finland, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in the UK, the Berliner Festspiele, the Hong Kong Festival of the Arts and the Tanglewood Summer Festival in the United States.

Furthermore, he has been given his own concert series at the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam and De Doelen in Rotterdam.

Since December 2006, Ralph has had an exclusive contract with Naxos. His Pärt, Rzewski, Adams, Bryars and Tavener recordings have all been bestsellers, ranked among the Top 20 of bestselling Naxos albums worldwide, resulting, in turn, in the publication of a special dedicated Artist Portrait CD-box in 2009.

Van Raat teaches contemporary piano interpretation at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. He is a member of the Jury of the 2018 Orléans Concours International.

Van Raat is a Steinway Artist, named by the Steinway piano company in 2013.

Van Raat studied piano with Prof. Ton Hartsuiker and Prof. Willem Brons at the Conservatory of Amsterdam as well as Musicology at the University of Amsterdam. He was awarded “Cum Laude” for both his piano and his musicological studies. As part of the Advanced Programme of the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and with funding by the Prince Bernhard Cultural Fund, van Raat also studied with Claude Helffer in Paris, Ursula Oppens in Chicago, Liisa Pohjola in Finland and with Pierre- Laurent Aimard at the Musikhochschule in Cologne.

Van Raat won the Second Prize and Donemus-Prize (for Contemporary Music) of the Princess Christina Competition; the Stipend-Prize Darmstadt during the “Internationale Ferienkurse fur Neue Musik” in Darmstadt; First Prize of the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition; the Philip Morris Arts Award; the Elisabeth Everts Prize; the international Borletti- Buitoni Fellowship; VSCD Classical Music Prize; the Fortis Mees Pierson Award of the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and the Prijs Klassiek (‘Classics Prize’) of the Dutch radio and television broadcaster NTR.

Interview with Ralph van Raat

Opening Doors: Ralph van Raat talks to Jeremy Siepmann

Role: Classical Artist
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