Christiaan Kuyvenhoven

Christiaan’s musical career got kickstarted after winning the 3rd Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in 2005. As a result, he has performed all over the world. Highlights include a recital at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, performances of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and appearances at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.

In 2016 he performed a special solo with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons in Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at the Dutch National Opera. He also worked with conductors such as Jaap van Zweden, Otto Tausk and Jean-Bernhard Pommier; playing with orchestra’s such as the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, the Dutch National Student Orchestra, and the National Orchestra of the Ukraine. As a chamber musician, Christiaan has played with the Matangi Quartet, mezzo soprano Tania Kross, pianists Thomas Beijer and Nicolas van Poucke, violinist Lonneke van Straalen and cellist Anton Spronk.

Since 2020, Christiaan has been rapidly developing as an orchestral conductor. Currently, he is conductor of the Kennemer Youth Orchestra. He followed masterclasses with Jurjen Hempel, and is regularly advised by Ed Spanjaard and Antony Hermus. Amongst many other pieces, Christiaan has conducted works such as Mendelssohn’s 4th Symphony, ‘Italian’ with the Young Talent Orchestra from Rotterdam, the Sinfonietta on Russian Themes by Rimsky-Korsakov with the Keizerstad Orchestra, and Bizet’s first Carmen Suite with the Kennemer Youth Orchestra. As a result, he started as artistic director and conductor of the Kennemer Youth Orchestra in September 2024.

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As a presenter, Christiaan is involved with numerous international music competitions. This includes Liszt Utrecht, the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, the Horowitz Competition, and the Young Pianists Foundation. Annually, during the summer series of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, he interviews classical music stars such as Yuja Wang, Gustavo Gimeno, Iván Fischer, Abel Selaocoe, Joyce Didonato and Antonio Pappano. Furthermore, he has presented numerous ‘At the movies’ concerts, and regularly appears as a support act for the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Christiaan is a highly experienced radio, television and content maker. From 2013-2020 he had his own daily show on Dutch national radio. In 2021 he published the podcast The maestro with the knitting needle in which he explores the profession of conducting by learning Mahler’s 5th Symphony. Because of its success, Christiaan was asked by Lannoo Publishers to write a book of the same name, which was published in February 2024.