Edo de Waart is Chief Conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
Last season was his last season at the helm of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, a post he held for 8 years. In addition to his many commitments in Europe and America he also took the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra to New York for a performance at Carnegie Hall.
Regular guest conducting appearances include with the San Francisco Symphony, NHK Symphony and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic orchestras as well as the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland.
As an opera conductor, Edo de Waart has enjoyed success in a large and varied repertoire in many of the world’s greatest opera houses. He has conducted at Bayreuth, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Geneva Opera, Opera de Bastille, Santa Fe Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera. His most recent appearance at The Met received rave reviews for Der Rosenkavalier, and he will return to the house in future seasons. In addition to semi-staged and concert opera performances with his orchestras in the United States, he regularly conducts opera with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic as part of the Concertgebouw’s Zaterdag Matinee series, last season featured Richard Strauss's Salome.
Edo de Waart’s extensive catalogue encompasses releases for Philips, Virgin, EMI, Telarc and RCA. His most recent recordings are with the Antwerp Philharmonic, and their Mahler Symphony No.1 disc is released in Dec 2012.
At the age of 23, he won the Dimitri Mitropoulos Conducting Competition in New York which resulted in his appointment as Assistant Conductor to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic. On his return to Holland he was appointed Assistant Conductor to Bernard Haitink at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1967 the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra appointed him Guest Conductor and, six years later, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. Since then Edo de Waart has also been Music Director of the San Francisco and Minnesota Orchestras; Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony and Chief Conductor of De Nederlandse Opera.
De Waart has received a number of awards for his musical achievements, including becoming a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion and an Honorary Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia, in reflection of his invaluable contribution to Australian cultural life during his decade with the Sydney Symphony. He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in recognition of his contribution to music internationally, and in particular, his commitment to developing future generations of musicians in Hong Kong.
