David Bendix Nielsen

Among Europe's rising young organists, David Bendix Nielsen has held positions at several prominent Danish churches. He made his recording debut in 2022 on the Orchid Classics label. Nielsen was born in Faaborg, Denmark, in 1993. He grew up partly in Hungary, where he moved with his mother, Ilona, who took him to classical concerts even as a small child. He has three siblings, all of whom received music lessons; one sister is a flutist and choral singer. Nielsen was fascinated by the organ from a young age, but until his feet could reach the pedals, he studied the piano. He attended a musical high school in Győr, Hungary, and at 14, he took up the organ. He entered the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen when he was 18, continuing on into the school's organist program. He also took master classes from Olivier Latry and Hans-Ola Ericsson, and several prizes, including the 2018 Léonie Sonning Talent Prize and a second-place showing at the 2021 Nordic Organ Competition in Stavanger, Norway, helped his young career along. For 2022-2023, he earned a Young Cultural Elite scholarship from the Danish Arts Foundation. Nielsen has held positions as organist at some of Denmark's great churches: at the Roskilde Cathedral, whose organ dates back to the 16th century, and at the Danish Royal Navy's Holmens Church. At this writing, he is the organist at St. Mark's Church in Copenhagen. He has amassed an international concert career, appearing at festivals in Italy, Slovakia, and Hungary, and has played solo recitals at Westminster Abbey in London, Lund Cathedral in Sweden, and the Basilique Sainte-Clotilde in Paris, among other venues. In 2022, Nielsen released his debut album, Bach & Pärt, on the Orchid Classics label, playing a copy of a North German-built 18th century organ at Copenhagen's Garrison Church.
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