Steven De Groote was born in Johannesburg, South Africa into a Belgian family in which, for three generations, almost every member had been a professional musician.

His grandmother was a recipient of the Prix de Rome in Belgium, and his father the conductor of the Cape Town University Symphony.

As a youngster, De Groote toured South Africa performing trios with his father on violin and brother on cello.

He trained with Lamar Crowson in Cape Town, and with Eduardo del Pueyo at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, graduating in 1971 with first prize in piano.

In 1972, De Groote entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with Rudolf Serkin, Mieczysław Horszowski, and Seymour Lipkin.

His debut, in 1981, at The Proms, playing Gershwin's Concerto in F with Andrew Litton conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was televised live by the BBC.

He worked with such distinguished conductors as Gerd Albrecht, Serge Baudo, Edo de Waart, Charles Dutoit, Jörg Faerber, Michael Gielen, Günther Herbig, Eugen Jochum, Bernard Klee, Kiril Kondrashin, Andrew Litton, Lorin Maazel, Karl Münchinger, Eugene Ormandy, Klaus Tennstedt, Antoni Wit, and David Zinman.