![]() |
Ed Spanjaard | |
---|---|
Birth name | Eduard Philip Spanjaard |
Born | Haarlem, Netherlands | 22 December 1948
Genres | Classical, Contemporary |
Occupation(s) | Conductor, Pianist |
Instrument(s) | Piano, viola |
Years active | 1975–present |
Eduard Philip Spanjaard (born 22 December 1948), known professionally as Ed Spanjaard, is a Dutch conductor and pianist. [1] [2]
Spanjaard was born in 1948 in Haarlem. His father was a psychiatrist and amateur pianist, [3] and his mother a flautist and music teacher. Spanjaard studied at the Conservatorium van de Vereniging Muzieklyceum at Amsterdam, and then at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. During his studies he was, in addition to conducting amateur ensembles like the Leids Studenten Kamer Orkest (LeSKO), assistant to Bernard Haitink, Georg Solti, and Herbert von Karajan.
In London, Spanjaard worked as répétiteur of the Royal Opera Covent Garden. In 1978, he conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Mozart's Così fan tutte during the Glyndebourne Festival. In 1980 and 1981 he was assistant-conductor to Herbert von Karajan at the Salzburger Festspiele. For the Bayreuther Festspiele in 1983, he was the assistant of Georg Solti in Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen , which laid the foundation for his work in the opera. For several years, he was principal guest conductor of the Nederlands Balletorkest and the Limburgs Symfonie Orkest (LSO) (1982–1988), and has directed almost all Dutch orchestras. Since 1982 Spanjaard has been principal conductor of the Nieuw Ensemble, which was awarded the Prins Bernardfonds muziekprijs in 1998.
As guest conductor Spajaard performed all over the world. In recent years he has conducted in the contemporary and classical repertoire. In the Netherlands he directed Verdi's Rigoletto with the De Nederlandse Opera, Gounod's Faust and Verdi's Don Carlos with the Nationale Reisopera and with the Opera Zuid Puccini's La Bohème and Madame Butterfly as well as Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel . Also with the Residentie Orkest and abroad (Canada) he made several opera productions. In 2000 at the Rotterdam Ahoy he conducted the Nederlands Balletorkest in Verdi's La Traviata and Britten's Peter Grimes with the Nationale Reisopera. He premiered the chamber-operas Wolf Cub Village and Night Banquet from the Chinese composer Guo Wenjing with the New Ensemble. In 2004, he was invited by the opera of Lyon to conduct the opera Pelléas et Mélissande from Claude Debussy.
During a state visit of Queen Beatrix in 1995, Spanjaard conducted Mahler's Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn and symphony No. 1 in cooperation with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He regularly performs with the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris and with the Klangforum Wien. In 2000 he conducted the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt am Main, with great success which was praised by the press. In February 2002 Spanjaard took care of the musical accompaniment for the wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta. She was particularly moved by Adiós Nonino from Ástor Piazzolla with Carel Kraayenhof on bandoneón. The success of the performance led to another CD recording with the same performers, including the Concertgebouw Kamerorkest and the Nederlands Kamerkoor.
In August 2001 Spanjaard was appointed chief conductor of the Limburgs Symfonie Orkest. Together with the LSO he performed Hans Zender's composed interpretation of Schubert's Winterreise in September 2003 during the Musica Sacra festival in Maastricht. This performance received praise from the national press and was considered the highlight of the festival. A CD recording of the LSO and the Nederlands Kamerkoor with compositions by Gabriel Fauré was also highly praised.
In 2009 Spanjaard conducted Das Rheingold , [4] [5] of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen with the Nationale Reisopera and Orkest van het Oosten in Enschedé where in 2010 he conducted Die Walküre . In July 2016 Ed Spanjaard was appointed chief conductor of Orkest van het Oosten starting from season 2017–2018, following Jan Willem de Vriend. [6]
Spanjaard was appointed Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Amsterdam University of the Arts in September 2012. [7]
The Dutch National Opera is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a modern building designed by Cees Dam and Wilhelm Holzbauer that opened in 1986.
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to London, as principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967 to 1979, music director at Glyndebourne Opera from 1978 to 1988 and of the Royal Opera House from 1987 to 2002, when he became principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Finally, he was principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2010. The focus of his prolific recording was classical symphonies and orchestral works, but he also conducted operas. He conducted 90 concerts at The Proms in London, the last on 3 September 2019 with the Vienna Philharmonic. His awards include Grammy Awards and the 2015 Gramophone Award for his lifetime achievements.
Hans Vonk was a Dutch conductor.
António Chagas Rosa is a Portuguese composer of contemporary classical music, considered one of the leading figures of contemporary musical writing of his generation.
Eduard Alexander van Beinum was a Dutch conductor.
Het Residentie Orkest is a Dutch orchestra based in The Hague. The orchestra is currently resident at the Amare performing arts centre in The Hague.
Yakov Kreizberg was a Russian-born American conductor.
Gordan Nikolitch, also spelled Gordan Nikolić, is a Franco-Serbian violinist. He was the first concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra for nearly 20 years, having stepped down in October 2017 to concentrate on directing and teaching.
The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Amsterdam.
The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra is a Dutch chamber orchestra based in Amsterdam. The NKO is part of the Stichting Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, along with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (NedPhO). The core of the NKO is a group of at least 20 string instrumentalists. The orchestra does not have wind, percussion and harp players as permanent orchestra members, but instead utilises such instrumentalists from the NedPhO. The orchestra is headquartered and rehearses at the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam.
The Limburgs Symfonie Orkest was a Dutch orchestra based in Maastricht, Netherlands. The orchestra was resident at the Theater aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht since 1992, and also performed in opera productions with Opera Zuid. The orchestra had received funding from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Province of Limburg and the Municipality of Maastricht.
The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra is a Dutch symphony orchestra. The home of the orchestra is the Muziekcentrum in Enschede. The orchestra was previously known in Dutch as Orkest van het Oosten, but in October 2011 changed its Dutch name to align with the English name. At the same time the Dutch abbreviation "OvhO" was replaced with "NedSym." Due to objections from the Amsterdam-based Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Enschede orchestra had to change its name again and from 2014 till 2019 was known as HET Symfonieorkest. Internationally it keeps employing the name "Netherlands Symphony Orchestra".
Marc Albrecht is a German conductor who lives in The Netherlands. He was chief conductor of the Dutch National Opera, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra from 2009 to 2020.
Het Brabants Orkest was a Dutch symphony orchestra, based in the province of North Brabant. Its principal concert venue was the Muziekgebouw Frits Philips in Eindhoven. The orchestra also gave concerts at the Theater aan de Parade in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Concertzaal in Tilburg, and the Chassé Theatre in Breda.
Vesko Eschkenazy is a violinist who serves as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's concertmaster.
Willem Jeths is a Dutch classical composer.
The Nederlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie (RKF) was a Dutch orchestra active from 2005 to 2013. It was based at the Muziekcentrum van de Omroep (MCO) and performed concerts at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Gerard Beljon is a musician and composer from the Netherlands, specialising in chamber and choral music with contemporary resonances. His works have been performed in Austria, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Russia and the United States.
Gustavo Gimeno is a Spanish conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Jan Willem Loot was a Dutch orchestra administrator.