Jaap van Zweden
Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Mahler 6
Muscular Mahler 6 as Chicago Symphony makes Prague Spring debut
With Jaap van Zweden on the podium, the orchestra offered a brawny, dynamic reading that barreled off the Municipal House stage like a thunderstorm coming in off Lake Michigan.
Bachtrack (21.05.2025)Grafenegg Festival - Beethoven 7
The best Beethoven interpretation came from Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden made its last foreign orchestral guest appearance at the Grafenegg Festival – and demonstrated a special affinity for Beethoven.
The Press (06.09.2025)Representation
Worldwide general management (excluding Asia except Japan)
Contact
Season 25/26 and Highlights
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
Adams – Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No. 1
Respighi – Pines of Rome
Sep 11/12
SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Brahms – Symphony No. 1
Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Sep 25/26
SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Shin – Upon His Ghostly Solitude
Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto
Oct 1/2
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ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Escaich – Arising Dances
Ravel – Piano Concerto in G Major
Prokofiev – Romeo and Juliet Suite
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 1
Oct 14/15/16/19/21/22
SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 3
Dvořák – Symphony No. 9
Nov 27/28
SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Wagner – Tristan and Isolde
Dec 4/5/6/7
SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Beethoven – Symphony No. 9
Dec 18/19
HONG KONG PHILHARMONIC
Gubaidulina – Viola Concerto
Mozart – Requiem
Jan 16/17
ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUWORKEST
Zarina – Blum
Korngold – Violin Concerto
Wagner – Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Jan 21/22/23/25
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major
Bruckner – Symphony No. 7
Jan 29/30/31
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Thompson – To See the Sky
Bruch – Violin Concerto in G Minor
Mozart – Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter"
Feb 12/13/14/15
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
Beethoven – Symphony No. 3
Beethoven – Symphony No. 7
Feb 19/20/21
TONHALLE ORCHESTRA ZURICH
Lalo – Cello Concerto
Bruckner – Symphony No. 7
Feb 26/27/28
ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 25
Bruckner – Symphony No. 7
Apr 29
ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
ASIA TOUR
Works by Debussy, Ravel and Bruckner
Soloists: Mao Fujita and Alexandre Kantorow
May 15 ( Nanjing), 16 (Shanghai), 18 (Beijing), 22 (Taipei), 24 (Kaohsiung), 27/28 (Tokyo), 29 (Nagoya), 30 (Osaka), 31 (Yokohama)
NHK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Wagner – The Mastersingers of Nuremberg Overture
Mozart – Piano Concerto in G Major, K. 453
Bartók – Concerto for Orchestra
June 13/14
ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Jolas – B-Day (French Premiere)
Mozart – Symphony No. 40
Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring
June 18/19/20
Biography
Jaap van Zweden is the Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the designated Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He is also Artist-in-Residence of the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan. Previously, he was the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic (2018–2024) and Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (2012–2024). He has conducted many of the world's most renowned orchestras and is one of the most sought-after conductors of our time.
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The 2025/26 season marks a greater presence for van Zweden in Europe: he will undertake his first European tour with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, with concerts in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Vienna and Munich. In addition, he will lead the orchestra on a major Asian tour with stops in Taipei, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, among others. These significant projects mark the beginning of his future collaboration with the orchestra and also signal its international focus.
In Europe, van Zweden returns to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich for subscription concerts. He also conducts two programs with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, where he continues to serve as Honorary Conductor. In recent years, he has worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the London Symphony Orchestra, among others. In the USA, he has performed with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Van Zweden also remains prominently represented in North America and Asia. This season, he returns to the Chicago and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras – in San Francisco, he will open the season with a gala concert. He will also undertake his first US tour with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, further expanding its international presence. In Asia, he will conduct the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic once again, where he served a formative twelve-year tenure as Music Director.
Van Zweden concluded his tenure with the New York Philharmonic with the 2023/24 season. During this time, he led 31 world, US and New York premieres, including commissioned works such as Stride by Tania León as part of “Project 19” for the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. His legacy in New York also includes the reopening of the renovated David Geffen Hall and the performance of a repertoire ranging from Beethoven and Bruckner to world premieres by Marcos Balter, Caroline Shaw, Carlos Simon and Julia Wolfe.
His discography includes acclaimed recordings on Decca Gold and Naxos. With the New York Philharmonic, he recorded David Lang's prisoner of the state and Wolfe's Grammy-nominated work Fire in my mouth. With the Hong Kong Philharmonic, he conducted the first complete Ring des Nibelungen ever performed in Hong Kong – now available on Naxos. His interpretation of Parsifal was awarded the Edison Award for Best Opera Recording in 2012.
Born in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden was appointed the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam at the age of 19. Almost 20 years later, in 1996, he began his career as a conductor. In April 2023, van Zweden received the Concertgebouw Prize for outstanding contributions to the artistic profile of this institution.
He remains Honorary Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Honorary Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was Chief Conductor from 2005 to 2013. He was also Chief Conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (2008–2011) and Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (2008–2018). Under his direction, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra was named “Orchestra of the Year” by Gramophone magazine in 2019. In 2012, he was named “Conductor of the Year” by Musical America and in October 2018 was the subject of a segment on the CBS program 60 Minutes on the occasion of his inauguration with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1997, Jaap van Zweden and his wife Aaltje founded the Papageno Foundation, which supports children and young adults with autism through music therapy, assisted living, research and digital initiatives such as the TEAMPapageno app. The foundation is a pioneering institution in the field of autism support – in the Netherlands and beyond.
2025/26
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