Anton Nel (born December 29, 1961) is a South African classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Biography

Nel was born to

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

-speaking parents in

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. Nel made his debut at the age of twelve with Beethoven's C Major Concerto after only two years of study. A student of Adolph Hallis, he went on to win top honors in several South African national competitions while still in his teens, toured his native country extensively and became a well-known radio and television personality. Nel graduated from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

in Johannesburg in 1982. He came to the U.S. in 1983, attending the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, where he pursued his master's degree and Doctoral degrees under

Béla Síki Béla Síki (21 February 1923 – 29 October 2020) was a Hungarian pianist. Career He was born in Hungary, where he was a student in Budapest of Leo Weiner and Ernest von Dohnányi at the Franz Liszt Music Academy. He moved to Switzerland in 194 ...

and Frank Weinstock. He was appointed to the faculty of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

at the age of 23, followed by professorships at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

, and the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where he was chairman of the piano department. In 2000 Nel was appointed as the Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor of Piano and Chamber music at the University of Texas at Austin, where he heads the Division of Keyboard Studies. In 2010 he became the first holder of the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair in Piano. Nel was winner of the first prize in the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. He also won several first prizes at the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition in

Palm Desert Palm Desert is a city in the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, California. The city is located in the Colorado Desert arm of the Sonoran Desert, about east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The populat ...

in 1986. An acclaimed

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

interpreter, Nel has performed the concerto cycle several times, most notably on two consecutive evenings with the Cape Philharmonic in 2003. He has performed with the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

, the symphonies of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, among many others. Nel has an active repertoire of more than 100 works for piano and orchestra, including the newly discovered Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Minor by

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

of which he gave the North American premiere in 1997. Nel has three solo CDs as well as several chamber music recordings to his credit. Recent releases include "Anton Nel in Recital", as well as the complete Beethoven Sonatas and Variations for Piano and Cello, and Brahms Sonatas and Hungarian Dances (with Bion Tsang) by Artek Recordings (with distribution by Naxos) and his performances of the Fauré Ballade and Franck Symphonic Variations with the Philharmonia Virtuosi, on the ESS.A.Y label.

Personal

Nel became a U.S. citizen in 2003.

External links

Anton Nel - University of Texas at Austin

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The distribution of the following ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', '' ...

, March 26, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nel, Anton Classical music in South Africa Living people American classical pianists American male classical pianists American male pianists Texas classical music 1961 births University of Michigan faculty 20th-century American pianists 21st-century classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists