Anton Nel Biography
Anton
Nel, winner of the first prize in the 1987 Naumburg International
Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall enjoys a remarkable and
multifaceted career that has taken him throughout North and South
America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. Following an auspicious
debut at the age of twelve with Beethoven’s C Major Concerto after
only two years of study, the Johannesburg native captured first
prizes in all the major South African competitions while still in
his teens, toured his native country extensively and became a
well-known radio and television personality. A student of Adolph
Hallis, he made his European debut in France in 1982, and in the
same year graduated with highest distinction from the University of
the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He came to the United States in
1983, attending the University of Cincinnati, where he pursued his
Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees under Bela Siki and Frank
Weinstock. In addition to garnering many awards from his alma mater
during this three-year period he was a prizewinner at the 1984 Leeds
International Piano Competition in England and won several first
prizes at the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition in Palm
Desert in 1986.
Highlights of Mr. Nel’s nearly three decades of concertizing include
performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the symphonies of
Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, and London, among many
others. (He has an active repertoire of more than 100 works for
piano and orchestra.) An acclaimed Beethoven interpreter, Anton Nel
has performed the concerto cycle several times, most notably on two
consecutive evenings with the Cape Philharmonic in 2003. He was also
chosen to give the North American premiere of the newly discovered
Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn in 1992.
Stephen Paulus composed a piano concerto for Mr. Nel and the
acclaimed world premiere took place in New York in 2003.
As recitalist he has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the
Metropolitan Museum and the Frick Collection in New York, at the
Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, Davies Hall in San Francisco, and
the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Internationally he has
performed recitals in major concert halls in Canada, England (Queen
Elizabeth and Wigmore Halls in London), France, Holland
(Concertgebouw in Amsterdam), Japan (Suntory Hall in Tokyo), Korea,
and South Africa.
A favorite at summer festivals he has performed at the Ravinia
Festival, at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, as well as at
the Aspen and Blossom Music Festivals (where he is on the
artist-faculties), among many others. Possessing an encyclopedic
chamber music and vocal repertoire he has, over the years, regularly
collaborated with many of the world's foremost string quartets,
instrumental soloists, and singers. With acclaimed violinist Sarah
Chang he completed a highly successful tour of Japan as well as
appearing at a special benefit concert for Live Music Now in London,
hosted by HRH the Prince of Wales.
Eager to pursue dual careers in teaching and performing he was
appointed to the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin in his
early twenties, followed by professorships at the Eastman School of
Music, and the University of Michigan, where he was chairman of the
piano department. In September 2000, Anton Nel was appointed as the
Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor of Piano and Chamber music at
the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches an international
class of students and now heads the Division of Keyboard Studies.
Since his return he has also been the recipient of both the
Austin-American Statesman’s Critics Circle Award for his performance
of the Rachmaninov Second Concerto, as well as the University
Cooperative Society/College of Fine Arts award for extra-curricular
achievement. In 2001 he was appointed Visiting "Extraordinary"
Professor at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, and
continues to teach master classes worldwide.
He has three solo CDs (including a disc for EMI) as well as several
chamber music recordings to his credit. The 2005/6 season saw three
new releases: "Anton Nel in Recital", as well as the complete
Beethoven Sonatas and Variations for Piano and Cello (with Bion
Tsang) by Artek Recordings (with distribution by Naxos) and his
performances of the Faure Ballade and Franck Symphonic Variations
with the Philharmonia Virtuosi, on the ESS.A.Y label.
Anton Nel became a citizen of the United States of America on
September 11, 2003.
He is a Steinway artist.
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