Hannes Minnaar studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and graduated with an A plus distinction. At the international Concours de Geneve Hannes Minnaar was rewarded the second prize; at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels he won the third prize, the highest Dutch ranking ever in this internationally acclaimed competition.

Hannes has played many solo recitals in Dutch halls and festivals, and he made his international debut as a solo pianist at the Gewandhaus, Leipzig. Before his 18th birthday, he had made his debut with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and Alessandro de Marchi. He played Beethoven?s fifth piano concerto with the orchestra of the Amsterdam Conservatory and Frans Brüggen, and with the Belgian National Orchestra under Nikolai Alexeev. His piece de résistance is Saint- Saëns?s fifth piano concerto, which he performed with the Belgian National Orchestra and Marin Alsop, as well as with deFilharmonie, conducted by Otto Tausk and Edo de Waart respectively. His international debut he made with Markus Bosch and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

Directly after obtaining his prize at Queen Elisabeth, Hannes was invited by Dutch and Flemish orchestras. In 2011-12 he will play a.o. Ravel’s piano concerto in G with Marc Soustrot, Beethoven’s fifth piano concerto with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, and Rachmaninov’s third piano concerto.