Pianist Peter Caelen studied at the Conservatories of Maastricht and Amsterdam with Frans van Beveren, Joop Celis and Willem Brons. He continued his studies with Peter Feuchtwanger in London and Thomas Duis in Saarbrücken. Furthermore he has taken part in masterclasses with musicians such as Peter Donohoe, Lazar Berman, Eugen Indjic, Piotr Paleczny and Jan Michiels.
Peter Caelen played concerts throughout Europe, amongst others in Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Rotterdam (De Doelen), Londen, Oxford (Holywell Music Room), Brussels (Main Hall Royal Conservatory), Saarbrücken (Saarbrücker Kammerkonzerte), Koblenz (Rhein Mosel Halle), Rome and Espoo (Sellosali). Furthermore he could also be heard at festivals such as the Mozart Festival, the Klevischer Klaviersommer, the Mendelssohn-Tage, the Feuchtwanger Piano Festival and the Kamarihelmi Festival. As a soloist he performed with several orchestras and as a chamber musician he worked with numerous musicians such as violinists Simone Lamsma, Esther Yoo, Lisanne Soeterbroek, Olsi Leka, Hans van Kerckhoven, the Carducci and Atrium String Quartets, members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks and the wind soloists of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
In 1994 Peter Caelen won a first prize in the Princess Christina Competition in Den Bosch (The Netherlands). In 2001 he was a finalist in the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach (Austria) and in 2006 he was awarded a diploma during the World Music Competition Ibla Grand Prize in Italy. The Frits Philips Music Hall in Eindhoven presented him as ‘Zuiderlicht’ in 2005. As a promising young talented musician he was given the opportunity to compose his own concert series.
Peter Caelen was to be heard and seen on several occasions on both Dutch and foreign broadcasting networks like Radio 4 and SWR. His cd’s include works by Nordgren, Berg, Schönberg, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Wagner, Debussy, Prokofief, Haydn, Schubert en Liszt.
Peter Caelen was invited to give masterclasses in the United Kingdom and Finland. Besides he is a frequent jury member in competitions both in the Netherlands and abroad (a.o. Belfius Classics).
Since 2006 Peter Caelen has been Director of the Virenze Concerts near Maastricht (The Netherlands). From the 2014-2015 season he has as well been appointed artistic leader of the foundation Muziek Klassiek Gulpen (The Netherlands).