Born in 1958, Joop Celis received his first piano lessons from his father at the age of nine. Later he studied with Jo Dusseldorp at the conservatory of Maastricht in The Netherlands, from which he graduated with the highest distinction in 1979.

At the age of fifteen he won a Dutch competition for young pianists, and only four years later the third prize at the well-known Busoni Competition in Bolzano (IT). He continued his studies for two years with the famous Austrian pianist Paul Badura-Skoda (1927-2019) at the Hochschule für Musik in Essen (DE). Furthermore he was one of the laureates of the Tromp Competition in Eindhoven (NL), in 1980, and of the International Piano Competition at Épinal (FR), a year later.

As well as giving solo recitals and concerts of chamber music, Joop Celis has made a number of recordings, both for release on CD and for broadcast on Dutch, Belgian, German and Italian radio stations. His repertoire ranges from the classical period through the romantic era up to French impressionism and post-romanticism.

Joop Celis has devoted himself in particular to the relatively unknown post-romantic British composer York Bowen (1884–1961). He gave lecture-recitals on his works, wrote essays, gave concerts, and recorded several CD’s with Bowen’s piano works, released by the renowned British label Chandos. All CD’s received outstanding reviews in several important national and international music magazines. His most recent CD, dedicated to piano works of the Spanish composer Enrique Granados, contains a.o. Granados’ most famous suite and ‘magnum opus’ Goyescas, and his Escenas Poéticas. This CD was released in 2016 by the Swedish label BIS, when it was exactly 100 years ago that Granados died – in a tragical way – during the First World War, March 1916.

Joop Celis lectures at the Conservatory of Hogeschool Zuyd in Maastricht, The Netherlands, and at the Lemmens campus of LUCA School of Arts in Leuven, Belgium. He gave masterclasses in The Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and several Asian countries.

Joop Celis is a Steinway Artist.