Jaap van Zweden
Jaap van Zweden (pronounced: Yaap fun Zvaydn ('fun' as in English, 'Zvay' to rhyme w. Eng. 'may')) (born December 12, 1960 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland) is a Dutch conductor and violinist.
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[edit] Biography
Van Zweden's father, a pianist, encouraged him to begin violin studies at age five, and he studied music in Amsterdam. At age 15, he won a violin competition; this allowed him to attend The Juilliard School in the United States, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay.[1]
[edit] Career
In 1979, at age 18, Van Zweden became the concertmaster of the Concertgebouw Orchestra — the youngest violinist ever to assume that position, which he held until 1995.
Van Zweden began to work as a conductor after Leonard Bernstein invited him to lead an orchestra rehearsal in Berlin. He has stated that he learned much about conducting from observing the various conductors who led concerts of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. He conducted smaller ensembles initially, and became a full-time conductor in 1997.[2]
His first Dutch conducting post was as chief conductor with the Orkest van het Oosten (Orchestra of the East, or the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra) in Enschede, the Netherlands. He served in this post from 1996 through 2000. Van Zweden was chief conductor of the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague from 2000-2005, with whom he recorded the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven. In 2005, he became chief conductor and artistic leader of the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest (RFO; Netherlands Radio Philharmonic) in Hilversum. In February 2007, he extended his RFO contract through 2013.[3] In August 2010, the orchestra announced that van Zweden would step down from the RFO chief conductorship in 2012 and take the title of honorair gastdirigent (honorary guest conductor, or principal guest conductor).[4]
In January 2012, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra announces that Van Zweden is appointed to be the Music Director of the orchestra for four years, starts from 1 August 2012.[5]
Van Zweden made his US conducting debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1996. His second US guest-conducting appearance was with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in February 2006, a concert that was highly acclaimed.[6] Based on this engagement, the Dallas Symphony named van Zweden their next Music Director after Andrew Litton, effective with the 2008–2009 season.[2] His initial contract is for four years, where in the first year he is scheduled to conduct 12 weeks of subscription concerts, and for 15 weeks in the subsequent 3 years. For the 2007–2008 season, he held the title of Music Director Designate and conducted 3 subscription concerts. In October 2009, the Dallas Symphony announced the extension of his contract through the 2015-2016 season.[7] In addition to his post with the RFO and his Music Directorship with the Dallas Symphony, van Zweden became chief conductor of deFilharmonie (Royal Flemish Philharmonic) in Antwerp in 2008, for an initial contract of 5 years.[8] In 2012, van Zweden is scheduled to step down from the chief conductorship of deFilharmonie and to take the title of eredirigent (honorary conductor).[9]
[edit] Personal life
Since 1983, van Zweden has been married to the artist Aaltje van Zweden–van Buuren. They have a daughter, Anna-Sophie, and three sons, Daniel, Benjamin and Alexander. The van Zwedens have a particular interest in autism, as their son Benjamin is autistic.[2] In 2000, they set up the Papageno Foundation to provide autistic children with music therapy.[10] [11]
[edit] References
- ^ Tim Madigan, "Conductor Jaap van Zweden's performance applauded from every corner". Dallas Star-Telegram, 28 September 2008.
- ^ a b c Scott Cantrell, "New director for DSO". Dallas Morning News, 1 February 2007.
- ^ Vivien Schweitzer (1 February 2007). "Dallas Symphony Names Jaap van Zweden Music Director". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/5947.html. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
- ^ "Markus Stenz chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra" (Press release). Radio Filharmonisch Orkest. 17 August 2010. http://en.radiofilharmonischorkest.nl/mco_page/detail/20983. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
- ^ "HKPO Welcomes New Music Director Maestro Jaap van Zweden Takes the Helm from Season 2012/13" (Press release). HKPO. 16 January 2012. http://www.hkpo.com/eng/press/press_releases/2012/20120116.jsp. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- ^ Scott Cantrell, "Guest conductor van Zweden makes quite a showing". Dallas Morning News, 17 February 2006.
- ^ "The Dallas Symphony Announces Contract Extension For Music Director Jaap van Zweden" (Press release). Dallas Symphony. October 2009. http://www.dallassymphony.com/Press_Releases.aspx?aID=67. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
- ^ "Jaap van Zweden chef-dirigent in Vlaanderen". Trouw. 2006-06-30. http://www.trouw.nl/novum/article1323900.ece. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ "Edo de Waart: Chef-dirigent vanaf 2012-2013" (Press release). deFilharmonie. April 2010. http://www.defilharmonie.be/chef-dirigent-vanaf-2012-2013. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
- ^ Laura Korenman (2 April 2007). "Conduct Energy. Conduct Heat.". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/6255.html. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
- ^ Scott Cantrell, "Dallas Symphony's new director offers views on Dallas, plans for orchestra". Dallas Morning News, 8 September 2008.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Evgeny Svetlanov |
Chief Conductor, Residentie Orchestra 2000–2005 |
Succeeded by Neeme Järvi |
| Preceded by Edo de Waart |
Chief Conductor, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra 2005–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Andrew Litton |
Music Director, Dallas Symphony Orchestra 2008–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Daniele Callegari |
Chief Conductor, DeFilharmonie 2008–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
