Nikola Meeuwsen

On Saturday 31 May 2025, Dutch pianist Nikola Meeuwsen won the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2025. "He is nourished by the sound of the very greatest. When Nikola Meeuwsen touches the piano, something very special happens," noted ex-finalist Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort.Besides the prize money, media attention and a closing concert with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, he returns in the ’25-’26 season for a solo recital. In that recital, two composers from Meeuwsen's final return: Mozart with Sonata KV 282 and Prokofiev with Suggestion Diabolique. From his semi-final he revisits Mendelssohn's Variations sérieuses, this time complemented by Shostakovich's restless Piano Sonata No 2. The conclusion is less “serious”: Schumann's piano suite Carnival has Pierrot, Harlequin and even Clara Schumann dancing in 21 short piano pieces.