Niek de Groot

Dutch double bassist Niek de Groot is one of today’s leading soloists. Originally a trumpet player he started playing the double bass at 18. Within an unusually short time he became principal bass with several European ensembles, including a 10 year tenure as first solo bass with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

After his formal studies he further developed his skills at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada. Niek’s playing has benefited a great deal also from attending masterclasses with eminent cellists Frans Helmerson, Lluìs Claret, Laurence Lesser and in collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, György Sebök and Mstislav Rostropovich.

Since 2006 Niek de Groot has dedicated himself entirely to chamber music and solo performances. He performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician at the best known concerthalls and music festivals. A new well received solo CD for Nimbus was released in June 2015. A CD with contemporary violin/bass Duos for Audite as well as the first volume of the Hoffmeister solo-quartets and Rossini sonatas for BIS, wil be released in the Autumn of 2017.

His repertoire includes a great deal of contemporary music. He has worked closely with composers such as Kurtág, Stockhausen, Saariaho, Vasks and Gubaidulina.

In 1996 Niek was appointed Senior Professor for Double Bass at the Folkwang University of Arts, Essen, becoming the only French Bow playing bassist ever to teach in such a position in Germany. He also taught at institutions in Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and regularly gives master classes worldwide. Many of his former and current students play in Europe’s foremost orchestras and ensembles.

Through his career, Niek de Groot has played on rare double basses by Cerutti, Bajoni and the 1680 Amati. Most recently he received the lifelong privilege to play the world famous Domenico Montagnana double bass from 1747. His bows are especially made for him by Jochen Schmidt, Dresden and his baroque and classical bows by Gerhard Landwehr.

Photo Credit: Josep Molina