André de Ridder

André de Ridder occupies a unique position among today’s conductors, maintaining his dedication to the repertoire whilst exploring the pop world with orchestras, and commissioning genre-defying contemporary projects. He has formed close artistic relationships with a diverse range of artists including Kaija Saariaho, Uri Caine, Michel van der Aa and Damon Albarn, and performs regularly at international festivals including the BBC Proms, Iceland Airwaves, Sydney and Holland Festivals. He was awarded a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in May 2018 for Spitalfields Festival where he returns as Artistic Curator for the December 2018 programme. He also continues his Artistic Directorship of Musica nova Helsinki 2019, leading the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Having premiered Daniel Bjarnason’s Brothers for Danish National Opera last season, the 2018/2019 season began for de Ridder with performances of The Magic Flute at Central City Opera (Colorado) and he will conduct Duke Bluebeard’s Castle for c Opera. He also makes his debut with Staatstheater Stuttgart, conducting Nixon in China. Orchestral debuts in the season include Tampere Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic and he returns to the New York Philharmonic, Basel Sinfonietta and Orquesta Nacional de Espana, where he conducts the Labeque sisters in the new double piano concerto by his long-time collaborator Bryce Dessner.

André de Ridder was educated in Berlin and subsequently studied at the Music Academies of Vienna and London, under Leopold Hager and Sir Colin Davis.