Niels ENGEL
Born in July 1987, Niels grew up in a family of musicians in the South of Luxembourg where his
inherited and deep-rooted interests for music ran into blues, funk and jazz music.His early
classical studies took place in the conservatories of Esch-sur-Alzette and Luxembourg where he
took mainly classical music lessons such as percussion, clarinet, classical harmony, music theory,
music history and solfeggio.
Playing in different classical ensembles such as brass bands, wind bands and chamber music
ensembles strengthened his ability to read music at a demanding and high level.
Since the age of 3 he played drums at home on his father’s drum set and established a
passionate autodidact path of learning the drums.At the age of only 16 he entered the drum
department in Esch-sur-Alzette and finished the program in just 3 years.That same year, he won
the Médaille d’Or au Concours jeunes Solistes Européens in Luxembourg.
The combination of innate talent, discipline and support from his parents earned him a seat at the
renowed “Koninklijk Konservatorium” in The Hague where he started his bachelor degree in 2007
with Erik Ineke, Joost Patocka, Frits Landesbergen and Stefan Kruger. From 2009 he finished his
studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with mentors Martijn Vink and Marcel Serierse.
After his bachelor studies in the Netherlands, he finished his master’s degree in Cologne at the
Hochschule für Musik und Tanz.
In that period he learned from prestigious alums such as John Clayton, Gerald Clayton, Jim McNeely, Terell Stafford, Brad Mehldau, Branford Marsalis, Barry Harris, Peter Erskine, John Riley, Justin Di Cioccio, Nelson Faria, Markus Gilmore, Billy Hart and many more..
After finishing his studies in the Netherlands and Germany, Niels won a number of competitions as a sideman such as: the Princes Christina Concours in the Netherlands ; the Grote Prijs van Nederland ; the European Burghausen Jazz Award in Germany, the Sibiu Jazz Competition in Romania, the Nancy Jazz Up in Nancy.
Since then, Niels has recorded over twenty albums with artists such as Pol Belardi, Jérôme Klein, Ernie Hammes, Claire Parsons, David Laborier, Orchestre National de Jazz de Luxembourg, Luxembourg Jazz Orchestra, Marc Mangen, Matiss Cudars, Beam, etc..
He has performed on numerous festivals and clubs around the globe such as the Blue Note in NYC, Montreux Jazz Festival, Sibiu Jazz Festival, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Cairo Jazz Festival, Le Duc des Lombards, Leopolis Jazz Festival, Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival, and many more..
