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The Belgian pianist, Jan Prosper Michiels, with Abel Matthys at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. From 1988 to 1993 he studied at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin under the direction of Hans Leygraf - he was awarded an exceptional distinction for his interpretations of Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Ligeti's Etudes. He was Tenuto-laureate in 1988; in 1989 he won the international E. Durlet competition. In 1991 he was laureate of the international Queen Elizabeth Competition. In 1992 he was awarded the JeM/ Cera prize for musicians and in 1996 he was signed up as festival star of the Flanders Festival. He is also laureate of the 'Gouden Vleugels/KBC Muziekprijs' 2006. He obtained in 2011 a doctorate in the arts (with greatest distinction) by performing a teatro dell'ascolto', inspired by the New Prometheus of Luigi Nono.
Jan Michiels has been known for his very personal and multi-layered approach to the piano repertoire, combining old and new in always changing perspectives. Numerous recordings testify his activity – to quote but a few, ‘Lost in Venice with Prometheus’, ‘The War of the Romantics’ or ‘Slavic Soul’ (all published by Fuga Libera) contain music from Bach till today seen from the position of a performer composing his programs through a continuous dialogue with living music history. He worked indeed closely with composers such as a.o. G.Kurtág, H.Holliger, H.Lachenmann, K.Goeyvaerts, K.Huber, R.Groslot and K.Defoort. One of his main inspiration sources is Luigi Nono, who stood at the centre of his doctorate in the Arts ‘Teatro dell’Ascolto’ (2011).
Jan Michiels regularly performs as a soloist or with chamber music ensembles (a.o. the Piano Quartet "Tetra Lyre" and a piano duo "YIN-YANG" with Inge Spinette) in prestigious venues all over Europe and Asia. As a chamber musician he worked with numerous soloists and ensembles - with Inge Spinette he forms the piano duo YingYang. He worked with conductors such as D. Angus, S. Asbury, Serge Baudo, S. Blunier, Andrey Boreyko, Sian Edwards, Péter Eötvös, R. Groslot, G. Guerrero, Philippe Herreweghe, Heinz Holliger, O. Kamu, J. Latham-Koenig, Jun Märkl, Ivan Meylemans, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, K. Ono, J. Phillips, L. Pfaff, A. Rahbari, Peter Rundel, E. Siebens, M. Soustrot, D. Stern, M. Tabachnik, A. Tamayo, Lothar Zagrosek and Hans Zender with orchestras such as a.o. Brussels Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Berliner Symphoniker, Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Ensemble Modern, Prometheus Ensemble, Champ d’Action, Tampere Symphony Orchestra, Solisti del Vento, Ensemble Recherche, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Besides of that he has been an active collaborator with choreographers such as Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker, Sen Hea Ha and Vincent Dunoyer.
Jan Michiels's repertoire reaches from J.S. Bach to today. Apart from the ‘ritual recitals’ he realized several complete cycles the concert stage, such as all L.v. Beethoven Sonatas, all piano works from the 2nd Viennese School (Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg), all Debussy, all Béla Bartók, all Johannes Brahms (piano solo and chamber music with piano), and the complete works for piano by Ligeti. Apart from his many radio recordings, he also recorded CD's with works from a.o. J.S. Bach, Béla Bartók, L.v. Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, Debussy, Dvorák, Janácek, Franz Liszt, Sergei Rachmaninov, Ligeti, György Kurtág and Goeyvaerts (these three last composers appreciated very much his interpretations). The CD 'Via Crucis' - a F. Liszt-portrait (Eufoda) - received a Caeciliaprize in 2002.
Jan Michiels is currently active as piano professor in the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, where he also led the class of contemporary music for eight years. He conducted master-classes in London, Murcia, Hamburg, Oslo, Montepulciano, Szombathely (Bartokfestival). He was jury member in several competitions (Brussels, Bolzano, ...). |
