Belgian National Orchestra Appoints Next Chief Conductor

Dutch conductor Antony Hermus will assume the position, effective as of September 2022

Proceeding Hermus is Hugh Wolff, who will lead his final season this September, but will be involved as the ensemble’s emeritus conductor for the next two years.

Antony Hermus will begin an initial four-year term with the orchestra with 2022 as his designate year. From 2023 onwards, he will be directing the orchestra for 18 concerts a season, including international tours, recordings, and conducting the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

Additionally, he is Principal Guest Conductor of the North Netherlands Orchestra and of England’s Opera North. Other conducting engagements include those with Royal Concertgebouw, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest, and Rotterdam Philharmonic.

He recently appeared with the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, BBC Philharmonic, Danish National, Suisse Romande, Orquesta Castilla y Leon, Melbourne Symphony, and Seoul Philharmonic. 

Hermus studied piano with Jacques de Tiège at the Brabant Music Conservatory and conducting with Jac van Steen and Georg Fritzsch. He currently serves as Visiting Professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands' National Youth Orchestra.

"The Belgian National Orchestra has opted for a change and selected Dutch conductor Antony Hermus as our new permanent Chief Conductor starting from the 2022-23 Season," reads the orchestra’s Facebook post. "We look forward to working with him."

"Brussels ... a fascinating European capital, the city of my heroes Jacques Brel and Toots Thielemans, the city of my first University-exchange in my early twenties, and the place of so many beautiful personal memories for me already …" Hermus wrote on his Facebook. "And there are going to be more!"