Born in West Germany, he studied with Wilhelm Kempff, Fausto Zadra, Yara Bernette and Max Martin Stein. He has given piano recitals in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria, Switzerland, Venezuela, Japan, China and other countries in Europe and the rest of the world.
He is regularly invited to perform at festivals in Hamburg, Venice, Verona, Lausanne, Assisi, Caracas and Wallonia.
He has appeared as soloist with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Romanian Radio Symphony Orchestra and others. His performances have been recorded live and broadcast across Europe on television and radio.
As a soloist, his repertoire ranges from the Baroque to Messiaen, with a particular focus on the German Classical and Romantic repertoire. He also performs chamber music with Mark Lubotsky, Leonid Peyzakhov and Hirofumi Fukai.
As a teacher, he has been contributing to piano teaching in Europe for many years: at the age of 31, he became the youngest professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, and for many years he was head of the instrumental music department.
From 2011 to 2015, Ralf Nattkemper was a visiting professor in Japan at the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts.
He is a regular guest as jury member at international competitions in Brussels, Sofia, Rome, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Jaen, San Sebastian, Madrid, Messina, Caltanissetta, Tokyo, Beijing and elsewhere in the world.
Many of his students have won first prizes in prestigious competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the Steinway Competition, the Concours International de France, the Concours International de Jaén and the Elise Meyer Competition. They have also received numerous prestigious international music awards, including the Echo Prize.
Ralf Nattkemper currently enjoys an international career as a soloist and teacher at universities throughout the world.
He regularly gives master classes at numerous higher education establishments in Europe, including the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, the National Conservatory of Sofia, the National Conservatory of Lisbon and the Rotterdam Conservatory.
He also teaches at the Kalaidos Musikakademie (Zurich, Switzerland), the Eon International Music Academy in Seoul (South Korea) and the Yamaha Masterclasses in Tokyo (Japan).
