About Sharon

Sharon Niessen (1986), born in the Netherlands, spent her childhood together with her sister within a family with some musical background. Thanks to her grandmother, Sharon encountered the beautiful sound of the piano as a child and got inspired by works from Chopin she often played. Completely captured by the beautiful and brilliant harmonies of the piano, Sharon decided to take her first piano lessons at the age of nine. She eagerly practiced daily with great curiosity and dedication, since she was discovering and exploring a new world full of endless imagination.

Soon she appeared to be a talented pianist and therefore she got accepted to the Young Talent department of the Fontys Academy of Music and Performing Arts (NL) when she was only 14 years old, where she started her studies with Ton Demmers. As a teenager she got a lot of concert opportunities and everything made sense: this was her mission, she wanted to be a pianist and share her love for music with others.

After high school she continued her studies with Ton Demmers, Jan Wijn and Joop Celis at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and Fontys Academy of Music and Performing Arts. She got the chance to build a solid foundation of her flawless technique and to develop her own artistic language and personality. In 2016 Sharon graduated cum laude as a Master of Music.

Sharon already knows a few big stages from an early age. At the age of 17 she got the great opportunity to give a concert in Carnegie Hall in New York (US). She traveled through Europe to give concerts. Some other examples of big stages in the Netherlands where she played are Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. She had her TV debut in 2014 and was often heard on the Radio.

She has carried out her artistic choices in solo recitals and as a soloist with orchestras such as Philips Symphony Orchestra, YouthOrchestra of the Netherlands, Dutch Promenade Orchestra, Helikon Orchestra, and worked with conductors such as Sander Teepen, Jules van Hessen and Jurjen Hempel. Highlight was her tour of five concerts with the YouthOrchestra of the Netherlands and Liszt’s 1st Piano Concerto.

She was prizewinner of national and international competitions. She won the 1st prize of the Princess Christina Competition, 1st prize of the Petrof Piano Competition, 2nd prize of the international IMKA Music Competition, and she was prizewinner of the international Young Pianist Foundation.

She keeps striving for a distinctive way of musical expression and interpretation. Sharon is acclaimed for her lyrical playing, virtuosity and great stage presence. While she loves to play romantic repertoire like Schumann and Rachmaninoff, she often chooses to include unusual works in her concert programs but always with a thematic or conceptual coherence. She also likes to engage the audience during concerts by telling them about the works she’s playing.

Because Sharon loves to share and play music with other musicians, she decided to focus on chamber music as well.