Photo: Simon van Boxtel

BIOGRAPHY JAC VAN STEEN

Jac van Steen, conductor

Jac van Steen was born in Eindhoven, The Netherlands and studied conducting at the Brabants Conservatory of Music. In September 1985 his participation in the BBC European Conductor's seminar resulted in guest engagements with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

From 1986 to 1990 he was conductor and music director of the Bach Choir in Nijmegen. He was also Music Director of the National Ballet, Amsterdam, a post which he held up until the end of the 1993-94 season. The Bochumer Symfoniker in Germany appointed him in the 1992-93 Season as their permanent guest conductor, a position which he held until September 1994.

In September 1997, Jac van Steen was appointed chief conductor of the Nuerenberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany and in September 1999 was also appointed Chief Conductor and Music Director of the New Berlin Chamber Orchestra.

In August 2002 Jac van Steen became Music Director of the Deutsches National Theater Weimar and chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Weimar (up to August 2005) and in that same year he took up the position of chief conductor of the Musikkollegium Winterthur, Switzerland.

As per August 2007, Jac van Steen has been appointed General Music Director of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Theatre Dortmund, a position he held for 5 seasons.

His first visit to the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London in 1997 lead to immediate return engagements, CD recordings and his Proms debut.  In August 2005 he returned to the Proms with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, which also marked the formal start of his appointment as Principal Guest conductor with this orchestra. Besides his BBC engagements, he works both in concert and recordings with various orchestras and ensembles in the U.K., such as the London Sinfonietta, the Royal Scottish Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra, the CBSO Birmingham, CBSO Youth Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic London, Philharmonia London, BBC Philharmonic Manchester , Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.  He is a regular guest conductor with the finest Dutch, Swiss and German orchestras and made his debut in Japan in 2017 with the New Japan Philharmonic.

At present he is Principal Guest conductor of the Ulster Orchestra (Belfast) and the Prague Symphony Orchestra (CSSR).

Jac van Steen has built up a large opera repertoire, working extensively with acclaimed opera houses such as Weimar and Dortmund, as well as with Opera North and the Garsington Opera in the UK and the Volksoper in Vienna. In 2018-19 he will make his debut with the Oslo Opera with two productions.

Beside his activities as a conductor, Jac van Steen also teaches conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague. Working with young musicians and students are of great importance to him and he is one of the initiators of the ‘National Masters’ of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, an initiative which offers a selected group of young conducting students to work with various Duch professional orchestras as part of their education. Orchestras such as the The Hague Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic and several of the provincial orchestras have joined and offer these master students a chance to prepare and work in concert with them. He also frequently works with the Chetham School of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester as well as the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, both in London. In the Summer of 2011, Jac van Steen participated in the Summer Tour of the ECYO (European Community Youth Orchestra), conducting concerts in Austria and in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and has conducted the CBSO Birmingham Youth Orchestra on several occasions. In May - July 2018 he will lead the Jette Parker Young Artists Showcase organised by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London.

2019

Reduced Biography for use in programmes:

Jac van Steen was born in The Netherlands and studied orchestra and choir conducting at the Brabant Conservatory of Music.

Since participating in the BBC Conductors Seminar in 1985, he enjoys a very busy career and conducts the best orchestras in Europe, which included holding the posts of Music Director and Chief Conductor of the National Ballet of The Netherlands, the orchestras of Bochum, Nürenberg, the Staatskapelle Weimar, The Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra of Dortmund, Musikkollegium Winterthur and Principal Guest conductor at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. At present he is Principal Guest conductor of the Ulster Orchestra and the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

He made his debut with Opera North in 2013, as well as with the Volksoper in Vienna. In 2015 he has made a very successful debut at the Garsington Opera. He returned to Opera North for several productions and developed a yearly relationship with the Volksoper Vienna and bi-yearly appearances for Garsington Opera such as with Debussy's Pelleas and Melisande in 2017 and Smetana’s The Bartered Bride in 2019.  In the 2018-19 season he made his debut at the Oslo Opera with two Puccini productions.  Jac van Steen visits the UK regularly with the British orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, the CBSO, Royal Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra and made his debut in Tokyo with the New Japan Philharmonic and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.  Jac van Steen participates in numerous recordings for the BBC, as well as live- broadcasts of his concerts. There are a substantial number of CD recordings of his work with various orchestras.

Besides his activities as conductor, he is dedicated to teaching and is Professor for Conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague. He also regularly works with the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham School of Music (Manchester) as well as the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music (London). In May-June 2018 he lead the Jette Parker Young Artists showcase as organised by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London.

(Donot change without permission – 2019 )

Jac van Steen studierte Orchester- und Chorleitung am Brabanter Konservatorium.

Seit seiner Teilnahme am BBC Conductors Seminar im Jahr 1985 ist seine Karriere enorm gewachsen und er war auf vielen Bühnen zu Gast, sowohl in den Niederlanden als auch bei den besten Orchestern in England, Deutschland und der Schweiz. Seitdem war er fest angestellt als Chefdirigent und musikalischer Leiter beim Nationalballett, den Orchestern Bochum und Nürnberg, der Weimarer Landeskapelle, der Dortmunder Oper und Philharmonie sowie dem Musikkollegium in Winterthur. Er war auch regelmäßiger Gastdirigent des BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Er tritt regelmäßig mit den besten Orchestern der Niederlande, der Schweiz, Deutschlands und Großbritanniens mit dem Philharmonia Orchestra in der Londoner Big Series in der Royal Festival Hall sowie auf Tourneen durch England auf. Er ist regelmäßiger Gast des City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, des Royal Philharmonic Orchestra und verschiedener BBC-Orchester wie Cardiff, London und Manchester. Er machte auch CD-Aufnahmen mit dem Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Seit 2013/14 ist er Fester Gastdirigent des Prager Symphonieorchesters und seit der Spielzeit 2014/15 auch Fester Gastdirigent des Ulster Orchesters. Er hat eine breite Palette von Aufnahmen für die BBC gemacht und unter seiner Leitung wurden zahlreiche CD-Aufnahmen veröffentlicht (so wie Dabringhaus & Grimm, SOMM, Bridge Records, NMC).

Jac van Steen hat während seiner langen Zusammenarbeit mit den Opernhäusern von Weimar und Dortmund, in denen er als General Musikdirektor und Chefdirigent tätig war, ein großes Opernrepertoire aufgebaut. 2013 debütierte er an der Opera North Leeds. In den Jahren 2015 und 2016 dirigierte er erneut an der Opera North (Vida Breve + Gianni Schicci und Suor Angelica + Il Tabarro) und debütierte an der Garsington Opera (Strauss, Intermezzo). In den folgenden Jahren folgte eine Neuproduktion von Pelleas und Melisande vor kurzem bei Smetana´s Verkaufte Braut. Er arbeitet auch an der Volksoper in Wien

( u.A.Januar 2017 - Korngold, Das Wunder der Heliane und Oktober 2017 - Verdi, Masnadieri und in den kommenden Spielzeiten mit Boris Godounov und Forza del Destino) In den Jahren 2018-19 gab er sein Operndebüt in Oslo mit zwei Neuproduktionen von Puccinis Gianni Schicci, Il Tabaro und Suor Angelica.

Neben seiner umfangreichen Konzert- und Opernpraxis unterrichtet Jac van Steen am Royal Conservatory in Den Haag, wo er sich auch intensiv mit National Masters for Orchestral Conducting (NMO) befasst. Er arbeitet außerdem regelmäßig mit Orchestern der Chetham School of Music, des Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester und der Royal Academy of Music sowie des Royal College of Music in London zusammen.

Nicht ohne Erlaubnis ändern – 2019

Jac van Steen, dirigent

Jac van Steen studeerde orkest- en koordirectie aan het Brabants Conservatorium.

Sinds zijn deelname aan het BBC Conductors Seminar in 1985, heeft zijn loopbaan een grote vlucht genomen en is hij op vele podia te gast, zowel in Nederland als bij de beste orkesten in Engeland, Duitsland en Zwitserland. Sindsdien bekleedde hij vaste posities als Chefdirigent en Muzikaal directeur bij het Nationaal Ballet, de orkesten van Bochum en Neurenberg, de Staatskapelle Weimar, de Opera en het Philharmonisch Orkest van Dortmund en het Musikkollegium in Winterthur. Hij was tevens vaste Gastdirigent van het BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Hij treedt regelmatig op met de beste orkesten in Nederland, Zwitserland en Duitsland en het Verenigd Koninkrijk w.o. het Philharmonia Orchestra in de grote series in London in de Royal Festival Hall, als tijdens tournees door Engeland . Hij is regelmatig te gast bij het City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra en diverse orkesten van de BBC zoals in Cardiff en Manchester. Ook maakte hij CD-opnames met de Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Sinds 2013-14 is hij vaste gastdirigent van het Praags Symfonie Orkest en met ingang van seizoen 2014-15 ook vaste gastdirigent bij het Ulster Orchestra. Hij heeft aan een breed scala van opnames voor de BBC meegewerkt  en onder zijn signatuur zijn talloze CD-opnames verschenen (o.a. bij Dabringhaus & Grimm, SOMM, Bridge Records, NMC).

Jac van Steen heeft een groot operarepertoire opgebouwd tijdens zijn lange samenwerking met de operahuizen van Weimar en Dortmund waar hij als chef-dirigent verbonden was. In 2013 debuteerde hij bij Opera North Leeds. In 2015 en 2016 dirigeerde hij opnieuw bij Opera North (Vida Breve+Gianni Schicci en Suor Angelica + Il Tabarro) en maakte hij zijn debuut bij de Garsington Opera (Strauss, Intermezzo) en in de volgende jaren een nieuwe productie van Pelleas en Melisande en recentelijk met Smetana’s Verkaufte Braut. Ook werkt hij bij de Volksoper in Wenen ((Januari 2017- Korngold, Das Wunder der Heliane en Oktober 2017 – Verdi, Masnadieri en in de komende seizoenen met Boris Godounov en Forza del Destino. In 2018-19 maakte hij zijn debuut bij de opera in Oslo met twee nieuwe producties van Puccini’s Gianni Schicci, Il Tabaro en Suor Angelica.

Naast zijn uitgebreide concert- en operapraktijk, geeft Jac van Steen directieles aan het Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag, waar hij ook zeer betrokken is bij National Masters for Orchestral Conducting (NMO). Daarnaast werkt hij regelmatig met de orkesten van de Chetham School of Music, het Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester en de Royal Academy of Music en het Royal College of Music in London.

2019 - Wijzigingen niet toegestaan!