Guest conductors

Principal guest conductor

• Peter Dijkstra

  In August 2005 the Dutch conductor Peter Dijkstra was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Nederlands Kamerkoor.
  What the choir members and Dijkstra together achieved with their performances of the modern Dutch music in the ‘Under the Olive Tree’ programme during the 2004/05 season was considered so exceptional that it was decided to reinforce this young conductor’s association with the Nederlands Kamerkoor by awarding him this title.

  Peter Dijkstra studied choral conducting and solo voice at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where he graduated with distinction.

  He has become a much sought-after guest of professional choirs in Western Europe, working regularly with the RIAS Chamber Choir in Berlin, the Swedish Radio Choir, Cappella Amsterdam, the Bavarian Radio Choir in Münich and the SWR Vokalensemble in Stuttgart. In October 2003 he won first prize at the Eric Ericson Award in Stockholm, an international competition for conductors.
  With his own vocal ensemble The Gents Dijkstra gained international recognition as a result of their foreign tours and critically acclaimed CD recordings.
  At the beginning of 2006, however, Peter decided to say farewell to The Gents in order to devote more time to his growing international commitments, one of which being his appointment (with effect from September 2007) as chief conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir in Stockholm. 

Honorary guest conductor

• Paul Van Nevel

  Paul Van Nevel made his name as founder and leader of the Huelgas Ensemble, which he established following his activities at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He specializes in the polyphonic music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, studying its original source material and notation. He attempts in his interpretation of it to take into consideration as much as possible the spirit of the age in which it was written (literature, old pronunciation, experience of time and tempo, improvised counterpoint, rhetorical attitudes and suchlike). Thanks to a number of grants Van Nevel was able to study manuscripts in Spain, Italy and France.

  Since collaborating with Sony Classical Van Nevel has built up a worldwide reputation in the area of polyphonic music. Usually involved are totally unknown works which he unearths for the first time and subsequently puts onto CD with his ensemble. In 2000 Van Nevel won the ‘Choc de l’année’ prize given by Le Monde de la Musique for his recording of the isorhythmic motets of Guillaume Dufay.

  Alongside his activities with the Huelgas Ensemble Paul Van Nevel is guest conductor for productions of early polyphony with the Nederlands Kamerkoor.
  In June 1996 he was responsible for the recording with the Nederlands Kamerkoor of the early music volume of Vox Neerlandica for the NM Classics label.
  As well as giving various radio talks Paul Van Nevel has also written many articles about sources and interpretation.

  Baerenreiter has published transcriptions of early polyphony by Van Nevel. He has also written two books: a monograph by Johannes Ciconia (whose integral oeuvre he has also recorded), and “Nicolas Gombert and the adventure of Flemish polyphony”, a work aimed at a broader reading public.
  At present Van Nevel is putting the finishing touches to a book entitled “The Landscape of the Polyphonists”, on the subject of the influence of environment and landscape on the Franco-Flemish composers.
  Paul Van Nevel is an internationally renowned cigar expert.

  In August 2005 Paul Van Nevel became Honorary Guest Conductor of the Nederlands Kamerkoor.

Guest conductors

• Risto Joost

  Conductor and singer Risto Joost (b 1980) studied singing as well as choral and orchestral conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music, and received further training at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In spring 2008 Risto Joost graduated from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm majoring in orchestral conducting with Prof Jorma Panula. He has participated in the conducting masterclasses of Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Eri Klas, Paul Mägi and in early music masterclasses with Paul Hillier and Nigel North.
  In 1999 Risto Joost founded the chamber choir Voces Musicales. From 2001–02, Risto Joost was a singer in the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. In 2002, he founded his own orchestra, Ensemble Voces Musicales which is focused on performing Baroque and contemporary music. In March 2004, Risto Joost won the 1st prize in the 4th Competition for Young Estonian Choral Conductors in Tallinn. He has conducted the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Baroque Orchestra, Corelli Baroque Orchestra, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra as well as the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National Male Choir RAM, Swedish Radio Choir, State Choir Latvija, Danish Radio Choir, Ars Nova Copenhagen. Since year 2000 Risto Joost has regularly participated in the Estonian Music Days and Nyyd Festival, conducting approximately 50 première performances commissioned from various composers.
  Risto Joost also pursues an active solo career as a counter-tenor. His solo repertoire includes music from the Renaissance and Baroque period as well as from the 20th century. He has performed at the Steve Reich Festival (UK), Musica Antiqua Festival in Bruges (Belgium), Vantaa Early Music Festival (Finland), Stockholm Early Music Festival (Sweden), Riga Early Music Festival (Latvia), Haapsalu Early Music Festival (Estonia), and Nyyd Festival (Estonia). He has performed with orchestras such as Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Baroque Orchestra, Meder Consort (Estonia), Corelli Consort (Estonia), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Sansara (Latvia), Øresund Baroque Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen (Denmark), Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Phantasm (UK). Since 2003 he has been involved with the vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices (artistic director Paul Hillier).
  Since Sep 2006 Risto Joost is the principal conductor of the Tallinn Music High School Symphony Orchestra. In June 2007 he made his debut in the Estonian National Opera conducting Erkki-Sven Tüür’s opera “Wallenberg”.

• Grete Pedersen

  Grete Pedersen studied at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo where she took her exam in choir conducting in 1988 and since 1995 has also taught the same subject. She is the conductor of Oslo Chamber Choir which she founded in 1984. In 1990, she succeeded to Knut Nystedt at the artistic direction of the Norwegian Soloist Choir.

  Grete Pedersen has gained the reputation as one of Norway’s leading and most versatile conductors. She has been in charge of productions and performances of contemporary music as well as folk music, has co-operated with jazz musicians and actors and conducted several major works for choir and orchestra. Grete is working as guest conductor for choirs like the Netherlands Chamber Choir, Netherlands Radio Choir and the Swedish Radio Choir.

• Christoph Poppen
• Klaas Stok

  In August 2005 Klaas Stok was appointed Choirmaster of the Nederlands Kamerkoor.
  He is also an organist and conducts other choirs, e.g. Consensus Vocale and Capella Isalana.

  One of his tasks for the Nederlands Kamerkoor is to monitor and maintain the quality of the individual singers, the voice groups and the Choir as a whole. For most projects he fulfils this task in the capacity of repetiteur.

  He also advises management on numerous matters concerning the Choir. During projects with orchestra he assists the conductor of the project at orchestral rehearsals.
  Klaas Stok also conducts the Choir himself at least once a year in a concert programme or other project. 

• Jan Willem de Vriend

  Jan Willem de Vriend is the artistic director of Combattimento Consort Amsterdam and since 2006 the chief conductor and artistic director of the Dutch Symphony Orchestra.

  Combattimento Consort Amsterdam devotes itself to the music of about 1600 to 1830. Since its founding in 1982, it has performed virtually throughout the world as well as on many CDs, DVDs and television productions. For decades, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam has had its own concert series at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in which many entirely unknown – and mostly unpublished – pieces are performed alongside more familiar works. In addition to having served as concertmaster with various ensembles, De Vriend developed a career as a conductor. Opera conducting has come to play a significant role. He has led Combattimento Consort Amsterdam in unknown operas by Gassmann, Rameau, Heinchen and Haydn, among others, as well as familiar operas by such composers as Monteverdi, Handel, Rossini and Mozart. For the opera houses of Lucern, Strasbourg, Barcelona and Enschede, he has conducted operas by Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Strauss and others.

  Since De Vriend was named chief conductor in 2006, the Dutch Symphony Orchestra has become a notable phenomenon on the Netherlands’ musical scene. It has presented semi-scenic performances of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss and Mendelssohn. There were premieres of works by Offenbach, Say and Mahler. And by substituting historical instruments in the brass section, it has developed its own distinctive sound in the 18th- and 19th-century repertoire. Recently, the orchestra performed music by Schumann at festivals in Spain. It is currently recording Beethoven’s complete symphonies conducted by De Vriend. Its long Mahler tradition is being continued in recordings and tours.

  De Vriend has been a guest conductor with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as orchestras in Germany, Sweden and Australia. He is often invited to conduct both in the Netherlands and abroad. He has engagements pending, for example, with The Hague Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as orchestras in China, Germany, Austria and Italy. He has also been invited by the Stanislavsky Theatre of Moscow to conduct an opera by Handel.

• Michael Willens