DeRidder45_Marco Borggreve.jpeg
©Photo: Marco Borggreve
©Photo: Marco Borggreve
©Photo: Marco Borggreve
©Photo: Marco Borggreve
©Photo: Marco Borggreve
©Photo: Marco Borggreve

André de Ridder

Conductor
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“One of the world’s most daring conductors”

Wall Street Journal

Music Director Designate: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (from 2027)

Music Director Designate: English National Opera (from September 2027)

General Music Director: Theater Freiburg (until June 2027)

Founder: s t a r g a z e 

André de Ridder is the Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of Theater Freiburg and designated Music Director of both English National Opera and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, titles he will assume in 2027. He is in demand internationally for his impressive stylistic versatility, from Baroque to contemporary music. His projects and collaborations take him to orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, BBC Symphony orchestras, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de Paris and Concertgebouworkest.

Over the course of the 2026/27 season, De Ridder will conduct such works as Schönberg’s Moses und Aron at Theater Basel and Theater Freiburg, Saariaho’s Adriana Mater at English National Opera, the world premiere of Dessner’s Herakles Mad as part of his return to Basel, and Reid’s The Shell Trial, as well as Parsifal at Theater Freiburg. Last season, he conducted Doctor Atomic, Iphigénie en Tauride and Mahagonny.

Further guest appearances for De Ridder in the 2026/27 season include withGothenburg Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Dublin and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB). He curates and performs at Oulu Festival and continues his curatorship of​‘Unclassified Live’ at London’s Southbank Centre, a series of genre-defying performances featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra.

©Marco Borggreve

Connect with André

The ​“livewire conductor” (The Times) has formed close relationships with some of the most prominent composers of our generation, including Michel van der Aa, Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Kaija Saariaho. De Ridder also recently performed repertoire works such as Bluebeard’s Castle (Philharmonia Orchestra) and Scenes from Goethe’s Faust by Schumann (Staatstheater Stuttgart), collaborating with directors such as Kasper Holten, Barrie Kosky and Enda Walsh. He made his debut at Oper Köln for performances of York Höller’s Der Meister und Margarita.

De Ridder is an Artistic Director and co-founder of s t a r g a z e, performing projects ranging from Bach to avant-garde electronics, and contemporary classical music. The group has gained a significant following, and is regularly invited by leading concert halls, including the Barbican Centre London, Kölner Philharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

De Ridder’s discography includes an album of orchestral music by Bryce Dessner and Jonny Greenwood and the hugely successful Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter, both for Deutsche Grammophon. The Max Richter recording was awarded an ECHO Klassik Classic Without Borders award and has topped the classical charts in over 20 countries. For Transgressive Records, De Ridder also acted as producer on the release of Africa Express Presents: In C Mali. This followed a trip to Bamako, Mali, with Damon Albarn and his Africa Express project. In Mali, de Ridder initiated and led a recording of Riley’s In C with local musicians, joined by travelling Western artists, including Brian Eno and Damon Albarn.

De Ridder was Artistic Director of Musica Nova Helsinki 2017 – 2021, and in 2018 was the recipient of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for his innovative work as Artistic Curator of London’s Spitalfields Festival.

HarrisonParrott represents André de Ridder for general management.

Contacts

worldwide general management