Koen Kessels

Last updated
Koen Kessels
Born1960or1961(age 62–63) [1]
NationalityBelgian
Occupation(s)Conductor, music director
Known forMusic director of Birmingham Royal Ballet and The Royal Ballet

Koen Kessels (born 1961) is a Belgian conductor and pianist. He is music director of Birmingham Royal Ballet and of The Royal Ballet. [2] [1]

Contents

Biography

Trained as a pianist, Kessels studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. He became a repetiteur and an assistant conductor at the Vlaamse Opera. [3] He founded the music ensemble HERMES in 1998 [4] [5] and continues to serve as its artistic director. He has served as music director for the Belgian summer opera festival Zomeropera Alden Biesen. [2]

Kessels became music director of Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2010. In 2015, he became music director of The Royal Ballet. [6] [7] In December 2023, Dutch National Ballet announced the appointment of Kessels as its next music director, which includes the posts of artistic director and chief conductor of Het Balletorkest, effective 1 August 2024. [8] Kessels is scheduled to conclude his tenure as music director of Birmingham Royal Ballet on 30 June 2024. [9]

Kessels is an honorary professor at Birmingham University, as well as artistic director of Inspiratum. He is also on staff of the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch National Opera</span> Dutch opera company

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Royal Ballet</span> UK ballet company

Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company was established in 1946 as a sister company to the earlier Sadler's Wells company, which moved to the Royal Opera House that same year, subsequently becoming known as The Royal Ballet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Frémaux</span> French conductor (1921–2017)

Louis Joseph Félix Frémaux was a French conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Birmingham Conservatoire</span> School of Music and Acting in Birmingham, United Kingdom

The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and doctorate-level study in areas such as performance practice, composition, musicology and music history. It is the only one of the nine conservatoires in the United Kingdom that is also part of a faculty of a university, in this case Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City University. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools, and a founder member of Conservatoires UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Danish Orchestra</span>

The Royal Danish Orchestra is a Danish orchestra based in Copenhagen. The Danish name for the orchestra indicates its original function as an ensemble geared to supplying the music for court events. The Royal Danish Orchestra presently consists of around 100 musicians. The principal venue for the orchestra's traditional symphony concerts is the Copenhagen Opera House, where the orchestra also serves as the orchestra for the Royal Danish Opera, as well as holding several annual chamber orchestra concerts in the foyer of the smaller experimental stage Takkelloftet. Most ballet and some opera performances takes place at the Old Stage of the Royal Danish Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wim Henderickx</span> Belgian composer (1962–2022)

Wim Henderickx was a Belgian composer of contemporary classical music. He was composer in residence at Muziektheater Transparant and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, writing operas and other stage works. His music was influenced by oriental music and philosophy. He taught composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

Diego Masson is a French conductor, composer, and percussionist.

Barry Wordsworth is a British conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance</span> Music and dance conservatoire based in London, England

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in Greenwich, London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has 1,250 undergraduate and postgraduate students based at three campuses in Greenwich (Trinity), Deptford and New Cross (Laban).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jos Van Immerseel</span> Belgian harpsichordist, pianist and conductor

Jos Van Immerseel is a Belgian harpsichordist, pianist and conductor.

Daniel Sternefeld was a Belgian composer and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constantine Orbelian</span> American conductor and pianist

Constantine Garrievich Orbelian, Jr. is an American conductor and pianist of Armenian and Russian descent. He is named after his paternal uncle Konstantin Orbelyan, a major Armenian composer. Constantine Orbelian is currently music director and Principal Conductor of the New York City Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nayer Nagui</span>

Nayer Nagui is an Egyptian composer, conductor, musical director and pianist. Educated in Egypt, London and Paris, he has led orchestras internationally and frequently conducts the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, among the youngest orchestral directors in Egypt. He is also the musical director of the Cairo Celebration Choir, which he founded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinbert de Leeuw</span> Dutch conductor (1938–2020)

Lambertus Reiner "Reinbert" de Leeuw was a Dutch conductor, pianist and composer.

Karel Candael was a Belgian composer, music teacher, and conductor.

The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is the symphony orchestra of Flanders (Belgium), based in the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp. The orchestra is led by chief conductor Elim Chan and honorary conductor Philippe Herreweghe. The organisation, which is one of the seven art institutions of the Flemish Community, is one of the most important cultural representatives in the region. It is one of only two Belgian orchestras that have the right to style themselves as "royal", hence its full name "Antwerp Symphony Orchestra - the royal philharmonic orchestra of Flanders".

Het Balletorkest is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, affiliated with Het Nationale Ballet and the Nederlands Dans Theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grigor Palikarov</span>

Grigor Palikarov is a Bulgarian conductor, composer, pianist and music educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floris Visser</span> Dutch opera director & arts administrator

Floris Visser is a Dutch opera director and arts administrator. As an internationally acclaimed and award-winning director, he is considered one of the leading talents of his generation. Visser works in renowned opera houses such as Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Zürich Opera House, the Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, the Royal Danish Opera, Dutch National Opera & the Internationale Händelfestspiele. He holds professorships at several prominent institutes for the arts.

This article is for major events and other topics related to classical music in 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 Jessica Salter (2015-11-21). "The world of Koen Kessels". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  2. 1 2 Hanna Weibye (2017-05-31). "Koen Kessels: 'there's a joke in ballet we only have two tempi'". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  3. Kirkup, Sarah (2016-09-27). "'Working with contemporary composers is the main purpose of any company'". Gramophone. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  4. Chrisopher Morley (2010-01-22). "Koen Kessels picks up the baton at Birmingham Royal Ballet". Business Live. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  5. HERMES' own website mentions 2000 as the year of the ensemble's founding.
  6. Shipman, Chris (2014-10-07). "Koen Kessels to succeed Barry Wordsworth as Music Director of The Royal Ballet — News — Royal Opera House". Roh.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  7. "Koen Kessels to succeed Barry Wordsworth as Music Director of The Royal Ballet and Barry Wordsworth to become Principal Guest Conductor" (PDF) (Press release). The Royal Ballet. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  8. "Koen Kessels nieuwe muzikaal leider Het Nationale Ballet & artistiek leider & chef-dirigent Het Balletorkest" (Press release). Dutch National Ballet. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  9. "Paul Murphy announced as new Music Director" (Press release). Birmingham Royal Ballet. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
Cultural offices
Preceded by Music Director, Birmingham Royal Ballet
2010present
Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by Music Director, The Royal Ballet
2015–present
Succeeded by
incumbent