Concertgebouw
At eleven, Aidan won first prize at the Koninklijk Concertgebouw Competition, marking the beginning of his journey into the world of classical music.
Scriabin
The Premio Internazionale Pianistico “A. Scriabin”, which Aidan won at fourteen, sparked a genuine curiosity: he went on to learn all of Scriabin’s piano sonatas and pursue serious academic research into his work.
Carnegie Hall
After winning the Manhattan Music Competition in 2024, Aidan made his debut at Carnegie Hall performing Chopin’s Third Sonata — one of the most demanding works in the repertoire.
Biography
Dutch pianist Aidan Mikdad has a rare gift for making audiences feel that music is being discovered in the moment, not merely performed. Born on November 19, 2001, he grew up drawn to the piano with a seriousness that belied his age — and the competition world quickly took notice.
At eleven, he won first prize at the Koninklijk Concertgebouw Competition. The following year he became winner of the International Piano Competition of Lagny-sur-Marne.
He completed his Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude at the Amsterdam Conservatory under Professor Naum Grubert, then pursued a Master of Arts in Performance with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he also received the DipRAM — awarded for an outstanding final recital — and held the Bicentenary Scholarship for graduate studies.
In 2015, after winning the Premio Internazionale Pianistico “A. Scriabin”, he became genuinely fascinated by the composer, learning all of Scriabin’s piano sonatas and pursuing academic research. That same year, Hélène Grimaud awarded him the Klavier-Festival Ruhr Scholarship.
Further acknowledgements followed: the Royal Concertgebouw Young Talent Award, the Tabor Foundation Piano Award (Verbier Festival 2017), the Pnina Salzman Memorial Prize (Israel 2018), and fourth place at the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona.
He studied with Professor Joanna MacGregor between 2021 and 2023, before returning to Professor Grubert in Amsterdam, where he completed his master’s degree in 2025 with the highest distinction: 10 summa cum laude.
In 2021, still only nineteen, he became the youngest semi-finalist at the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition. He won first prize at the Royal Academy of Music Bicentenary Competition in 2023 at Wigmore Hall. After winning the Manhattan Music Competition in 2024, he made his Carnegie Hall debut performing Chopin’s Third Sonata. In 2025, he received second prize with the French Music Prize at the Épinal International Piano Competition.
Along the way he has crossed paths and learned from some of the finest pianists of our time, among them Sergei Babayan, Klaus Hellwig, Richard Goode, Sir András Schiff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Dame Imogen Cooper, Arcadi Volodos, Igor Levit, and Arie Vardi. He has performed across Belgium, France, Monaco, Germany, Israel, Italy, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Liechtenstein, and Spain.