Jaap van Zweden, SBS
Jaap van Zweden, born in Amsterdam, began his distinguished musical career as the youngest-ever concertmaster of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at age 19. He transitioned to conducting in 1996 and has since become a prominent figure in the field. He began his tenure as the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2018 and has served as Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2012. In January 2024, he took on the role of Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic and is set to begin as Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France Paris in September 2026.
Van Zweden has appeared with renowned orchestras across Europe, including the Orchestre de Paris, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestra. In the United States, he has conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. During the 2024/25 season, he will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on their European tour.
He has been recognised for his contributions to the Concertgebouw's artistic profile with the Concertgebouw Prize in April 2023. Van Zweden is Conductor Emeritus of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Honorary Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic where he was Chief Conductor (2005–13). His previous positions include Chief Conductor of the Royal Flanders Orchestra (2008–11) and Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (2008–18). Under his meticulous leadership, the HK Phil was named Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year in 2019, and he was named Musical America’s 2012 Conductor of the Year and was the subject of an October 2018 CBS 60 Minutes profile on his arrival at the New York Philharmonic.
In 1997, the van Zweden’s, established the Papageno Foundation to support families of children with autism. The foundation provides in-home music therapy through a national network of therapists, and in 2015, opened the Papageno House for young adults with autism to live, work, and participate in the community. The foundation also focuses on early diagnosis and treatment of autism and the effects of music therapy, and it launched the TEAMPapageno app to help children with autism communicate through music composition.
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