Be welcome during this masterclass by Anthony Hermus!
Wednesday 7 June at Room 109
Thursday 8 June at Room 321
About Anthony Hermus
Antony Hermus is Chief Conductor Designate of the Belgian National Orchestra. He will conduct the orchestra both in their home in Brussels BOZAR and on tour internationally, kicking off already in July 2022 with a concert in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the annual National Day concert televised live from Bozar, before opening the regular season in September. He also holds the posts of Principal Guest Conductor of the North Netherlands Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of Opera North. A leading figure in Dutch musical life, he conducts all the major orchestras in Holland including Royal Concertgebouw, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest and Rotterdam Philharmonic.
Hermus has an infectiously positive approach to music and life, and a natural talent for encouraging musicians and singers to give their very best. His dramatic flair, sense of line and clear-sighted approach have firmly established him in both the operatic and symphonic spheres. Plans in 2022/23 include Ariadne auf Naxos with Opera North and Mahler’s symphonies 9 and 10 in Holland, but his wide repertoire also encompasses works by many living composers. He has a particularly close relationship with Unsuk Chin, whose works he has conducted with the Helsinki Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony; in February 2023 he debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in the Presences Festival dedicated to her.
He has a flourishing guest conducting career, returning often to orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, Orchestre National de Lyon and Danish National, and appearing with many other distinguished orchestras across the globe – notably the Philharmonia, Suisse Romande, Bamberg Symphony, Melbourne Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic. He has a growing presence in Spain (Orquesta Sinfonica Castilla y Leon, Orquesta Sinfonica da Galicia), and in Spring 2023 conducts for the first time in North America (Oregon Symphony).
Hermus has conducted extensively and throughout his career in opera houses across Europe, notably in Stuttgart, Strasbourg, Gothenburg, at the Komische Oper Berlin, the Opéra de Paris studio, Essen and the Nederlandse Reisopera. He was Music Director in Dessau from 2009, ending his tenure in summer 2015 with his first Ring cycle and promotion to Honorary Conductor. Before Dessau he had progressed from Trainee-Repetiteur to Music Director (aged 29) in Hagen, winning many awards for his work there.
In 2017 CPO released his much-praised recording with the Bamberg Symphony of tone poems by the Dutch Romantic composer Alphons Diepenbrock, following their recording together of works by Siegmund von Hausegger. His discography on the same label includes works by Wagenaar, Klughardt, and Auber’s opera La Muette de Portici.
For Antony Hermus, music is an essential part of life and society. Always pushing the boundaries of traditional concert programming, Antony has been involved in numerous out-of-the-box-projects, such as Ligeti at the “Lowlands” rock festival and Symphonic Cinema (Mahler/Stravinsky). He was initiator of the award-winning „Scratch“ concerts and of the first performances in Germany of “Tweetfonie” (52 world premieres on one day) during his Residency at the International Kurt Weill Festival.
Hermus started playing the piano at the age of six. He studied piano with Jacques de Tiège at the Brabant Music Conservatory and conducting with Jac van Steen and Georg Fritzsch. He is passionately committed to nurturing the next generation of young musicians; he is Visiting Professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the “National Master of Orchestral Conducting” programme, as well as Artistic Advisor of the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands.