The Dutch pianist, Matthijs Verschoor, studied at the at the Conservatory of Rotterdam and at the Sweelinck Conservatoire in Amsterdam (MMus) and won scholarships from the Dutch, Italian and British government to study in London and Rome. Among his teachers were Bart Berman, Willem Brons and John Bingham.
Matthijs Verschoor performed throughout Europe as recitalist and soloist with a number of orchestras (concertos by composers like W.A. Mozart, César Franck, Ravel, Gershwin and Igor Stravinsky) and broadcast many works from J.S. Bach to Messiaen, but also unjustly neglected composers like Korngold. In August 2005 he established a duo with the Dutch cellist Mayke Rademakers. They have given numerous concerts already and in the near future concert tours will bring them to Austria, Portugal, Iceland and Italy. Beside playing solo recitals, he loves to perform repertoire for 2 pianos and has played and broadcast many works by composers like J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Béla Bartók (Sonata for two pianos and percussion) and Messiaen (Visions de l'amen).
Matthijs Verschoor was appointed professor at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam and recently as 'visiting artist' at Trinity College of Music in London. Since then he worked with students from England, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Israel, Austria, USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia and Holland. He has given succesful master-classes at Trinity College of Music London, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the Hochschule für Musik Berlin. Every year he conducts his own master-classes in Suvereto (Italy) and in Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
Early in his career Matthijs Verschoor started recording for RCA, Etcetera and Erasmus. His first album contained works by J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel and Scarlatti. Albums with works by Frédéric Chopin, L.v. Beethoven, Sergei Rachmaninov, Korngold (the complete sonatas) and Skrjabin followed. He also recorded many radio programs. His playing is unanimously acclaimed by the press, calling him "one of the chosen" (Luister) and "a superb pianist" (Gramophone). |