Jan Willem de Vriend

Jan Willem de Vriend, referred to as the 'stroke of luck from the Netherlands' by NZZ, is firmly rooted in historically informed performance practice. This connection began in 1982 with the founding of the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam.

As a recipient of special creative merits, de Vriend is in demand worldwide as a regular guest conductor. His engagements include performances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Melbourne and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestras, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Residentie Orkest Den Haag, the Belgian National Orchestra, as well as the philharmonic orchestras of Bergen, Hong Kong, Rotterdam, and Warsaw. He has also conducted the symphony orchestras of the Dutch and Hessian Radio.

Currently, he serves as the first guest conductor of the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Lille. Previously, he held the same position with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya and the Brabant Orchestra.

With the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, de Vriend recorded all of Mendelssohn's symphonies as well as all symphonies and concertos by Beethoven. He released a complete recording of all Schubert symphonies with the Residentie Orkest.

In collaboration with director Eva Buchmann, de Vriend brought works by Monteverdi, Haydn, Handel, Telemann, and Bach to the stage. This included staged versions of the Hunt and Coffee Cantatas at the Bachfest Leipzig, as well as operas by Mozart, Verdi, and Cherubini. De Vriend also directed opera productions in Amsterdam (Nederlandse Reisopera), Barcelona, Strasbourg, Lucerne, Schwetzingen, and Bergen.

Since October 2023, Jan Willem de Vriend has held the position of Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.