I was born in the UK but grew up in Germany. I studied jazz and classical piano at the conservatoires of the Berlin ‘Hochschule der Kunste’ from and subsequently the Amsterdam ‘Hoogeschool voor de Kunsten’ from I moved back to the UK and London in 1995, where I have been living and working since.
My pianistic influences are diverse, ranging from classical composers such as Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Debussy, Ravel and Albeniz to jazz pianists like Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Brad Mehldau, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Ahmad Jamal, and Latin American pianists such as Chucho Valdez, Eddie Palmieri and Alfredo Rodriguez.
As a band leader I’ve produced four jazz albums over the years, featuring my own compositions, two as a piano trio: ‘Blueprint’ (2002) and ‘Impressions’ (2014), and two as a quartet: ‘Nick Rixen Quartet’ (2008) and ‘Points of View’ (2010). The latter two are distributed online by the American label ‘Art of Life Records’
I’m also a professional piano teacher, having taught both jazz and classical piano for many years at colleges, music schools, for agencies, and privately, and I’m familiar with the UK grading and exam syllabuses.