Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto

Spanish-American pianist Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto’s international career is rapidly flourishing after he stepped in last minute performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto Jeunehomme at Carnegie Hall with The Chamber Orchestra of New York, which resulted in a standing ovation and immediate reengagements.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include major international performances at Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Carnegie Hall, Penderecki Music Centre, Krakow Filharmonia, St. James Picadilly, Auditorio Manuel de Falla, Auditorio de Galicia, Teatro Colón among others. In concerto, the upcoming season sees Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto as a soloist with orchestras in Spain and USA, as well as appearances with the Quiroga and St. Lawrence String Quartet. He will also make his debut with Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Orquesta de Córdoba, and in the Festival “Rafael Orozco”.

Juan Carlos has concertized throughout his native Spain, Europe, United States, United Kingdom, or Argentina, to name a few. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as, Orquesta de Radio Televisión Española, The Chamber Orchestra of New York, Orquesta Nacional de Colombia, Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta de Valencia, Orquesta Nacional de El Salvador, Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y León, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, among others, and has performed in venues such as, Carnegie Hall, Teatro de la Maestranza, Palau de la Música, Steinway Hall in New York and London, St James’s Picadilly, Chicago Cultural Center, Royal Dublin Society, Kharkiv National Opera House, Filharmonia Krakow, Filharmonia Slaska. He was featured on the Messiaen Centennial Celebration at Yale performing Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus. Also, an advocate for contemporary music, he has premiered works by Fernando Buide, Jesús Rueda, among others. Previous engagement included performances in festivals in Europe and the US, such as Festival Internacional de Santander, The Holland Music Sessions, Norfolk Music at Yale, Stony Brook, and Wintergreen Performing Arts, and chamber music performances with the Tokyo String Quartet, Quiroga String Quartet, as well as performances with the Grammy-nominated "Yale Cellos" under the direction of the late Aldo Parisot.

Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto was born in Salamanca, Spain. Days after his birth, the family relocated to Figueres in Catalonia, where he spent his first years of life. After his family moved to Valladolid, he started to show interest in music, and began studying piano and violin at the age of four. Then made his debut at the age of sixteen with Orquesta Ciudad de Granada performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in d minor under the baton of Lutz Köhler to critical acclaim in a live broadcast on Radio Nacional de España. Growing up in different regions of Spain and his later immigration to the United States have enriched his musical personality and his unique performance style, which is praised by the international press as a combination of “passion, soulfulness, and virtuosity”. Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto studied in Spain under Claudio Martinez-Mehner, and in the US with Ursula Oppens and Boris Berman. He holds degrees from The City University of New York and the Yale School of Music.

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Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto is a prize winner of many prestigious competitions internationally, such as The Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition, Iturbi International Piano Competition, Jaen International Piano Competition, CSMTA Young Artists Competition, Chamber Music Society at Yale. He has also been the recipient of prizes and awards as the Yale Alumni Prize, George Miles Fellowship, Linda & Alan Englander Fellowship. He has been a featured guest in TV shows and radio, as in Deutschlandfunk, Radio Nacional de España, TVE, Cadena Cope, Cadena Ser, Musical Cities, Radio Nacional de El Salvador, ORF1 Radio and has been featured as well in specialized magazines as Fono Forum, Pizzicato LUX, Ritmo, Scherzo, Melómano, and Gramophone UK.

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As a recording artist Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto released his debut album “Carnaval”, a monographic on Schumann, that featured both his carnavals, on Odradek Records; “Vive la France!”, recorded live at Klavier Festival-Ruhr on the CAvi-music label; and in 2022 released his latest album “Iberian Dances,” recorded with the IBS Classical label, which include works by Balakirev, Lyapunov, Albéniz and Machavariani. Juan Carlos is the first Spanish pianist ever to record “Islamey”, the virtuoso tour-de-force by Milij Balakirev, which garnered him a nomination to the prestigious International Classical Music Awards.