Niek van Oosterum is a Dutch pianist, born in Den Helder on 16 April 1974. He began piano lessons at the age of seven and continued his studies with Jan Wijn at the Amsterdam Conservatory in 1987. He graduated with distinction in June 1998.
In early 2000, van Oosterum entered the Berlin University of the Arts, where he studied with Professor Elena Lapitskaya; a scholarship from the Clara Haskil Fund helped make this study possible. He completed his diploma in Berlin in 2004. He then studied for the concert examination with Professor Boris Bloch at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, passing the examination with distinction in February 2006. He also attended masterclasses with Giorgy Sebök, Eugen Indjic and Vitaly Margulis.
Van Oosterum won several Dutch competitions, including the Steinway competition in 1986, the SJMN competition in 1988 and the Edith Stein Competition in 1989. His breakthrough came in 1990, when he won first prize at the Eurovision Young Musician of the Year competition in Vienna.
He has performed with the Orchestra of the East, the Gelderland Orchestra, the Residentie Orchestra, the Royal Orchestra of Flanders, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, including at the Berlin Philharmonie. In May 2005, he received the Förderpreis of the Köhler Osbahr Foundation in Duisburg and performed at its presentation concert at the Duisburg Theatre.
Alongside solo recitals, van Oosterum performs chamber music. He forms a two-piano duo with Bas Verheijden and a violin-and-piano duo with Saskia Viersen. His recordings include Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Stravinsky's Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments with the Royal Military Band, and violin-and-piano sonatas by Franck and Respighi with Viersen.