Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto

Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto (born January 26, 1987) is a Spanish-American pianist. He was described by Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung as "A musical sculptor who chisels out melodic lines with sharp contours". and "He set off a firework on the 88 piano keys which excited the audience in the Kulturzentrum right from the start" receiving a Master of Music in 2009 and an Artist Diploma in 2010. He later pursued a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance at Graduate Center of the City University of New York studying under Ursula Oppens.

Career 2000–2010: Early career In 2000, at the age of thirteen, Fernández-Nieto won First Prize in the Ciudad de Linares National Piano Competition.

Fernández-Nieto made his debut as a soloist in 2003 at the age of sixteen with the 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.

In the period of 2003-2010 he appeared as a soloist of RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Bari, Orquesta de Extremadura, Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y León, he performed in Auditorio Manuel de Falla, In two following seasons he had debuts in Teatro de la Maestranza, Fundación Scherzo, Teatros del Canal, Royal Dublin Society, Fundación Juan March, Teatro Nacional de El Salvador, appeared in Wintergreen Performing Arts in 2014 and Stony Brook Piano Festival in 2015, and performed as a soloist with Orquesta Nacional de El Salvador, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada.

Fernández-Nieto's international career has been rapidly flourishing after he stepped in last minute performing Mozart Piano Concerto Jeunehomme at Carnegie Hall with The Chamber Orchestra of New York in 2017, which resulted in a standing ovation. Same year he became a prize winner of the Iturbi International Piano Competition, and debuted in St. Martin in the Fields and St James's Picadilly in London, Chicago Cultural Center, Schumann Haus in Zwickau, Kharkiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Palau de la Música, and performed with Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra and Orquesta de Valencia.

In 2018 Fernández-Nieto won the Audience Prize and the Canon Prize in XIX Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition, and performed in Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Festival Internacional de Santander, Semana Internacional de la Música in Medina del Campo, and as a soloist with Orquesta Nacional de Colombia in Teatro Colón in Bogotá

Discography Fernández-Nieto's debut album, Carnaval, a monographic of music of Schumann, features both his carnavals. It was recorded in 2016 on the Odradek Records label.

The recording of Fernández-Nieto's debut in the Klavier-Festival Ruhr was published as "Vive la France! Debussy & Saint-Saint-Saëns (Edition Ruhr Piano Festival, Vol. 37)" in 2019 on the CAvi-music, on which he plays the Six Bagatelles, op. 3 by Camille Saint-Saëns as well as three valses from the same composer.

Media appearances Fernández-Nieto has been a featured guest in the TV shows as "Programa de Mano" and "Los Conciertos" on La 2, "Musical Cities" 2017 Mediaset, on Televisión Castilla y León; and on the radio shows as "Estudio 206" and "Cafe Zimmerman" "La dársena" on Radio Clásica (Radio Nacional de España), on Deutschlandfunk, Cadena Cope, Cadena Ser, Radio Nacional de El Salvador, Price-Rubin Radio.

He has been featured as well in specialized magazines as Gramophone UK, Ritmo, Scherzo, Melómano and Platea Magazine.