Born in Brussels, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden began playing the piano at a very young age and entered the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels at the age of twelve, where he worked under the direction of Eduardo Del Pueyo until the end of his studies at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.
He was only 16 years old when he was proclaimed laureate at the 1964 Queen Elisabeth International Competition. He is one of the youngest laureates ever elected.

This precious distinction marks the beginning of a brilliant career that has taken him to the most beautiful concert halls in the world, in Tokyo, St. Petersburg and New York, where he has performed with numerous symphony orchestras including: the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the Residentie Orkest in The Hague and several Belgian orchestras, as well as with the chamber orchestras I Fiamminghi and Franz Liszt (Budapest). He has collaborated with prestigious conductors such as Paul Kletzky, Rudolph Barshaï and Yuri Temirkanov.

 He also participates in well-known festivals. Among others at the Korsholm Festival (Finland), Umea (Sweden), Prades, la Chaise-Dieu and GIverny (France), Delft, Orlando (Netherlands), Seneffe and Stavelot (Belgium).

He is also a wonderful chamber musician, admired by his peers, who plays with leading Belgian and international partners, like Véronique Bogaerts, Marie Hallynck, Augustin Dumay, Silvia Marcovici, Michaela Martin, Miriam Fried, Gérard Caussé, Frans Helmerson, Michel Strauss, José Van Dam, Walter Boeykens, Enesco Quartet, Melos Quartet, Ysaye Quartet, César Franck Ensemble, etc. Sensitive, attentive and always careful to listen to others, his chamber-music concerts are a feast for the ear and the eye.

His vast and impressive repertoire includes virtually all the major concertos, a wide range of chamber-music pieces and, above all, the complete works for solo piano by Maurice Ravel recorded in 2008, which completes a large discography.

Jean-Claude Vande Eynden was knighted by King Philippe as a Knight in 2018.