Hannes Minnaar started playing the piano at the age of seven. He attended the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he studied piano with Jan Wijn and organ with Jacques van Oortmerssen. After graduating, he took lessons with Alfred Brendel, Menahem Pressler and Ferenc Rados. Hannes Minnaar has been performing regularly all over the world since his student days. He has won prizes at various national and international piano competitions such as the Rotterdam Piano Three Days (1999), the Princess Christina Competition (2003), the International Competition in Geneva (2008) and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (2010). In 2012, he received the Edison Klassiek Debutprijs and in 2016 the Dutch Music Prize. Hannes Minnaar forms the Van Baerle trio with violinist Maria Milstein and cellist Gideon den Herder. In 2019 he performed on the renowned Master Pianists Series in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as the first Dutchman in 20 years. His discography includes a.o. Bachs Goldberg Variations (Diapason d’Or, Edison Award), the complete Beethoven piano concertos (BBC Building a Library recommendation) and contemporary pieces by Daan Manneke and Robert Zuidam which are dedicated to him.

Portrait: Lars van den Brink