Ischico Velzel is a young Dutch/Indian pianist who takes her audience on a journey with her fresh image of classical music. She is active as a solo pianist and chamber musician and has found her distinctive voice by experimenting with the boundaries of classical music. Her playing is described as 'effortlessly expressive' and 'technically extremely fluent'Ischico strongly connects with performing unique and adventurous piano repertoire. In 2021, she won first prize in the Lamond Prize, a competition for lesser-known piano works, with her performance of Medtner's Sonata-Skazka. She has also won prizes at the Princess Christina Competition and the Bender-Petrof Festival. Ischico actively explores the connection between classical music and other genres and disciplines. She has collaborated with visual artists and dancers and recently made her debut in the world of theatre.

Ischico has been invited to perform in prestigious concert halls at home and abroad including Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam, Musis Sacrum in Arnhem, Sloane Square in London and Casa Battló in Barcelona. She was featured in several national radio programs in The Netherlands and SBS in Australia. Most recently she performed at NPO Classical where she performed works of A. Babajanian and her own version of Mozart's Lacrimosa. She has participated in masterclasses by Dmitri Alexeev, Jacques Rouvier, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Joanna Macgregor, Avedis Kouyoumdjian and Håkon Austbø. ​

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In addition to performing solo, Ischico thoroughly enjoys playing chamber music in different settings. She frequently collaborates with many internationally praised musicians such as soprano Elizaveta Agrafenina, pianist Anna Michels and cellist Manon Leroux. 

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Ischico completed two master degrees at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona under the tutelage of renowned pianists Frank Peters, Albert Attenelle, Petras Geniušas and Fali Pavri. She is grateful for the aid of the VSBFonds, Het Heij Konijn Fonds and Ars Donandi who have supported her studies financially. ​

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In 2019 Ischico ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to fund a part of her second master’s at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She currently plays on a Yamaha C5, generously supported by Stichting Eigen Muziekinstrument and Ars Donandi.