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 (May 21, 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 showed a special affinity for Beethoven .
Die Presse (September 6, 2025)Representation
Worldwide general management (excluding Asia except Japan)
Contact
Upcoming
ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Thompson – To See the Sky
Ravel / Maresz – Sonata for Violin
Shostakovich – Symphony No. 5
Sep 10 (Laon)/ 11 (Paris)
Wagner – Tristan and Isolde
Sep 25
SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216
Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola in E-flat major, K. 364
Mozart – Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 (“Jupiter”)
Oct 15/16
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SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Park Concert
Sep 9ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Thompson – To See the Sky
Ravel / Maresz – Sonata for Violin
Shostakovich – Symphony No. 5
Sep 10 (Laon)/ 11 (Paris)Wagner – Tristan and Isolde
Sep 25SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216
Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola in E-flat major, K. 364
Mozart – Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 (“Jupiter”)
Oct 15/16Mozart – Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E flat major, K. 365/316a
Mozart – Requiem in D minor, K. 626
Oct 23/24ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Dvořák – Cello Concerto (with Gautier Capuçon)
Berlioz – Fantastic Symphony
Nov 4/10 (Amsterdam)Brahms – Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (with Renaud Capuçon and Gautier Capuçon)
Berlioz – Fantastic Symphony
Nov 6 (Basel)/ 7 (Cologne)/ 8 (Essen)/ 12 (Vienna)/ 14 (Paris)CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Wolfe – Liberty Bell
Prokofiev – Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Vadim Gluzman)
Rachmaninov – Symphony No. 2
Nov 19/20/21SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Gubaidulina – Viola Concerto
Mahler – Symphony No. 4 in G major
Nov 26/27SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Schumann – Concert Piece for Four Horns in F major, Op. 86
Beethoven – Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (“Chorale”)
Dec 17/18ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Pärt – Mirror in the Mirror
Menut – New Work (World Premiere)
Janulytė – Cello Concerto (with Jean-Guihen Queyras) (World Premiere)
Pärt – Credo (with Vanessa Wagner)
Feb 5Wagenaar – Cyrano de Bergerac
Poulenc – Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (with Katia Labèque and Marielle Labèque)
Beethoven – Symphony No. 5
Feb 11SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
Beethoven – Symphony No. 8
Beethoven – Symphony No. 5
Feb 18/19/20Beethoven – Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”)
Beethoven – Violin Concerto (with Joshua Bell)
Feb 25/26/27
ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCEBach – St. Matthew Passion
with Michael Sumuel, Nicolas Phan, Amanda Forsythe, Tamara Mumford, Paul Pigster, Peter Kellner
March 26/27Mahler – Symphony No. 2
with Hanna-Elisabeth Müller and Michaela Schuster
Apr 2/3ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 3 (with Emanuel Ax)
Shekhar – Lumina (French Premiere)
Respighi – Pini di Roma
June 18
Biography
World renowned conductor Jaap van Zweden is a master builder who ‘hears a vision’ for an orchestra and then works to achieve it. His artistic mastery has served him and the orchestras he has guided in good stead. Included among these would be his recent past music directorships: the New York Philharmonic where he championed and then, in 2022, inaugurated the transformation of New York’s David Geffen Hall; Hong Kong Philharmonic which he led to international prominence; and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra which earned national acclaim under his direction.
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He has been Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic since 2024; and he began his tenure as Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in the fall of 2026, following a highly successful season as Music Director-designate which culminated in the orchestra’s Asian tour as well as a complete concert performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Festival Radio France in Montpellier. Since 2025, Jaap van Zweden has been affiliated with Taiwan’s Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, first as its Artist-in-Residence and now, starting in January 2027, as its Principal Conductor.
His 2026/27 schedule with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Seoul Philharmonic includes separate tours to major European concert halls, plus he returns as guest to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Widely recognized on three continents, Jaap van Zweden has also appeared as guest with, in Europe, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Orchestre de Paris, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestra, and, in the United States, the Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Among Jaap van Zweden’s over 50 recordings is the Hong Kong Philharmonic in first-ever performances in Hong Kong of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, released on the Naxos label. To this is added the New York Philharmonic recordings of the World Premiere of David Lang’s prisoner of the state (2020), and Julia Wolfe’s Grammy-nominated Fire in my mouth (2019), both released on the Decca Gold label. Plus, his acclaimed performances of Lohengrin, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Parsifal — the last of which earned him the prestigious Edison Award for Best Opera Recording in 2012 — are available on CD and DVD.
Born in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden, at age 19 while still a student at Juilliard, was appointed the youngest-ever concertmaster of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and began his conducting career in 1996. In April 2023, van Zweden received the Concertgebouw Prize, for exceptional contributions to that organization’s artistic profile.
He remains Conductor Emeritus of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Honorary Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, where he was Chief Conductor (2005–2013); he also served as Chief Conductor of the Royal Flanders Orchestra (2008–2011), and as Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (2008–2018), and New York Philharmonic (2018–2024). Under his leadership, the Hong Kong Philharmonic (2012–2024) was named Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year in 2019. Van Zweden was named Musical America’s 2012 Conductor of the Year and was the subject of a CBS 60 Minutes profile in 2018.
In 1997, Jaap van Zweden and his wife, Aaltje, established the Papageno Foundation to support families of children with autism. Today, almost thirty years later, the Foundation has grown into a multifaceted organization that focuses on the development of children and young adults with autism. In addition to in-home music therapy through a national network of qualified music therapists in the Netherlands, the Foundation has opened several Papageno Houses for young adults with autism to live, work, and participate in the community. October 2026
2026/27
(As of October 2026)—
Any changes or reductions must be approved by ARSIS Artist Management. Please do not use older material.
