Jeroen Riemsdijk is a Dutch pianist shaped by tradition yet pushes artistic boundaries. He has diverse expertise as a soloist, chamber musician, accompanist, artistic leader, and writer and regularly shares the stage with leading instrumentalists and singers.
As a senior lecturer at the Conservatorium Maastricht in solo piano and the Master Collaborative Piano class, Riemsdijk illuminates the piano solo, duo, and chamber music repertoire spanning various historical periods. His pioneering holistic approach to piano playing fosters physical balance, efficiency, and ease, integrating contemporary performance research with historical piano traditions. His classes blend practical skill-building with intellectual exploration, examining personal 'authentic' interpretation and the art of musical dialogue. This approach has nurtured a generation of technically proficient, emotionally expressive, and intellectually formed pianists and instrumentalists.
Riemsdijk's pedagogical philosophy is crystallized in his influential publications. His 2007 work, "The Golden Fingers Technique: The Art of Passagework for Pianists," introduced innovative perspectives on modern weight technique. His ongoing research projects, "Balanced Technique" and "Musical Expressive Dramaturgy", explore new levels of weight technique and musical interpretation, contributing to contemporary discourse on performance practice and bridging historical performance traditions with current musicological insights. His scholarly work regularly appears in the Piano Bulletin.
His artistic journey began with distinguished training: earning his "Konzertdiplom" at the Folkwang Musikhochschule in Essen under Russian pianist Boris Bloch, and completing his initial studies with distinction at ARTEZ under Ben Smits, who carried forward the pedagogical lineage of Cornelius Berkhout, Clara Haskil, and Béla Siki. Selected as a soloist for the Dutch Menuhin Foundation, Riemsdijk's career spans significant artistic leadership roles, including Artistic Leader of the Masters on Stage series in Amsterdam (2009-2015), where he performed complete chamber music cycles of Brahms with musicians from Claudio Abbado's Mozart Orchestra, and Beethoven. He also curated the Altembrouck music series in Belgium.
As a recording artist, Riemsdijk has contributed to the piano repertoire through world premieres and innovative interpretations. His discography encompasses works ranging from early Romantic virtuoso repertoire (Friedrich Kalkbrenner) to twentieth-century masterpieces (Zhelobinsky, Shostakovich, Debussy) and contemporary Estonian composers. His commitment to new music is evidenced through commissions and premieres of works by Chiel Meijering, Marijn Simons, Roel Van Oosten, Wim Zwaag, Galina Grigorjeva, Gerard Beljon, and Arno Dieteren.
Riemsdijk's collaborative artistry has flourished through performances with musicians from premier orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Dutch Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and London Philharmonic. He has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Gustav Rivinius, Levon Mouradian, Mirel Iancovici, Massimo Merceli, Philippe Bernold, Arno Piters, and Roeland Hendrikx, alongside numerous distinguished Lied and opera singers. His versatility extends to contemporary minimalist repertoire, occasionally performing Ten Holt's Canto Ostinato with Jeroen van Veen. His extensive experience includes decades of work with music companies such as Philzuid and Opera Zuid, early career teaching at the Karlsruhe Hochschule, and tours as a soloist with the Band of the Dutch Royal and The Royal Band of the Belgian Guides.