Denise Lutgens

Denise Lutgens was born in Roermond (in the Netherlands) on July 19, 1990. At the age of 6 she got her first piano lessons from Marianne Maessen at the school of music in Venlo. Later on she was taught by Theo Meeuws in Roermond.

At the age of 9 Denise took successfully the entrance exam to the preliminary training of the "Sweelinck" Conservatory of Amsterdam. Because of practical reasons she moved since January 2000 to the Conservatory of Brabant in the city of Tilburg, where she studied with Ton Demmers. In the autumn of 2001 Denise has taken a course of piano lessons at the private studio in Amsterdam of pianist Jessie De Bellis.

Denise was invited in March 2000 to perform in The Hague with four talented Russian students from Moscow. In May 2000 Denise ended first with the second prize at the Steinway Piano Competition in the Concert Hall of Amsterdam. In June 2001 she won the first prize at the Rotary Music Competition in the Theatre of Tilburg. In May 2002 she won the first prize at the Steinway Piano Competition, again in the Concert Hall of Amsterdam.

In September 2002 Denise was invited by Steinway-Germany to participate in a preliminary training at the Anton Rubinstein Academy in the city of Düsseldorf in Germany, under guidance of Alla Blatow. In November 2002 Denise won the first prize at the German DTKV Piano Competition, region Cologne/Aachen. Since then she has performed in Düsseldorf, Cologne, Aachen and Düren.

In 2003 several master classes were offered to Denise, for instance by the famous Russian pianists Prof. Leonid Gakkel and Prof. Vladimir Krainev.Aged 14 she has given very successfully her debut solo recital on January 22nd 2005 in her home town Venlo.

In 2004 Denise became a student of Professor Vladimir Krainev at the conservatory of Hannover, Germany.

She now attends the Sint Willibrord Gymnasium in Deurne. In February 2006 she won the 2nd prize in the International Piano competition of Aleksander Scriabin in Paris, France.