Klaus Hellwig studied with Detlef Kraus in Essen and Pierre Sancan in Paris. Courses with Wilhelm Kempff and Guido Agosti played a significant role in his development. Early successes in international competitions were followed by concert engagements throughout Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as in North and South America, Australia and the Near and Far East.

He has appeared as soloist with many leading orchestras such as the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the orchestras of the West German and Bavarian Radio Services, the San Francisco and Baltimore Orchestras and with many other orchestras especially in Germany and in the USA. He has also been a beloved chamber music partner for many musicians, including the principal woodwind members and the Octet of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Octet, and Young Uck Kim.

His work in a piano duo with Mi-Joo Lee, can be heard on a new recording of music by Mendelssohn which appeared in 2010 (Dabringhaus und Grimm, MDG 904 1653-6)

Klaus Hellwig is a professor of piano at the University of the Arts Berlin. He has given master classes in several countries and graduate courses for piano teachers in Germany. Many of his students have won prizes at prestigious international competitions such as first prizes at the Brussels Queen-Elisabeth (Brussels)-, the Gina-Bachauer- and the Robert-Schumann-Competitions. He is a frequent jury member at international competitions such as Leeds, ARD (Munich), Santander, Beethoven (Vienna), Tschaikowski (Moscow), Busoni, Viotti, Monza, Pozzoli, William-Kapell, Sendai, Orléans, Vianna-da-Motta, José-Iturbi, Dublin, Deutscher Musikwettbewerb and others.