Ed Spanjaard (NL)

About

Ed Spanjaard is one of those conductors whose career reads like a who's who of classical music: he worked as an assistant to Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, and Bernard Haitink before most people his age had figured out what they wanted to do. That early grounding in serious orchestral and operatic work set the tone for everything that followed. He made his mark at major festivals including Glyndebourne, Salzburg, and Bayreuth, and has since led nearly every major Dutch orchestra as well as ensembles across Europe and beyond. Since 1982 he has been the principal conductor of the Nieuw Ensemble, a long partnership that produced premieres of chamber operas by Chinese composer Guo Wenjing. He also conducted the musical programme at the 2002 wedding of Prince Willem Alexander and Máxima, where Astor Piazzolla's Adiós Nonino performed by Carel Kraayenhof on bandoneon moved the bride to tears and led directly to a CD recording. His discography stretches from Mozart and Wagner to contemporary Dutch composers, and he has held a professorship in orchestral conducting at the Amsterdam University of the Arts.