Gerard Willems

Gerardus Maria Willems ( * 1946 in Tilburg, Noord-Brabant ) is a Dutch- Australian pianist.

Life

As a child he was a chorister and piano students at the Brabant Conservatory in Tilburg. As a family of six had emigrated to Australia in 1958, sat Willems lessons from 12 to 17 years in an immigrant camp in Wollongong on. The study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, he finished with honors. At competitions he won including the Queen Victoria Piano Competition Prize. After he had been for a while Greville Rothon, a pupil of Claudio Arrau, in Munich, he went to Amsterdam for a few years and made his debut in London in 1974, in 1977 in Munich and 1978 in Amsterdam. In 1981 he returned to Australia and was appointed Senior Lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium. He has performed in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the end of 2000 in Israel.

As the first Australian pianist, he played a 5 concerts and 32 sonatas of Beethoven. For the Sonata recording, he was awarded the Prize of the Australian Schallplattenindistrie ( ARIA ) 1999 and 2000. The latest releases include the Diabelli Variations. As a committed vocal accompanist and chamber musician, he founded the piano trio Mozartrois, with whom he recorded all of Mozart trios.

Willems is an associate professor at the Sydney Conservatorium. He is committed to the promotion of young talent and holds master classes in Europe, Asia and Australia.

Willems maternal grandfather was an organist, composer and piano builder. This may explain that Gerard Willems preferred the revolutionary wing of Stuart & Sons ( 2.9 m, 102 instead of 88 keys).