Antony Hermus - NOSPR

Antony Hermus is Chief Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, conducting the orchestra at their home in Brussels BOZAR, on tour internationally, and at the Queen Elisabeth Competition. 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. He was Principal Guest of the North Netherlands Orchestra from 2015-2024 and is now Honorary Conductor for Life. He has become known for his infectiously positive approach to music and life, and his natural talent for encouraging musicians to give their very best. His dramatic flair, sense of line and clear-sighted approach are equally successful in the opera house and in the concert hall.

In 2024/25 he returns to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in their prestigious Matinee series at the Concertgebouw, and to the Residentie Orkest, Auckland Philharmonia, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and North Netherlands Philharmonic. He appears for the first time with the Vancouver Symphony, Bonn Beethovenorchester, Tenerife Symphony and Polish National Radio. He is a regular guest with the Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Danish National and Orquesta Sinfonica da Galicia, and has appeared with many other distinguished orchestras across the globe - notably the Philharmonia, Suisse Romande, Orchestre National de Lille, Strasbourg Philharmonic Bamberg Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and Seoul Philharmonic.

He has been Principal Guest at Opera North since 2019; plans in 24/25 include Simon Boccanegra, after his acclaimed double-bill production of Cavalleria rusticana and Aleko. He will also conduct Martinu’s Giulietta in Nice. Hermus has conducted extensively 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.

Next year will see the release of his first recording with the Belgian National Orchestra on La Dolce Volta, featuring Medtner and Rachmaninov. His existing discography on CPO focuses on neglected Romantic composers such as Hausegger, Klughardt and his compatriots Diepenbrock and Wagenaar, as well as Auber’s opera La Muette de Portici.

For 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 and teaches regularly at Sibelius Academy and Royal Northern College of Music. He is also Artistic Advisor of the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands.