Ed Spanjaard

He also conducted various chamber operas by Guo Wenjing (Holland Festival, Paris, Frankfurt, Lincoln Center New York). This autumn (2020) the lengthy documentary 'Inner Landscape' by filmmaker Frank Scheffer will be shown at various venues. It presents a fascinating insight into the collaboration between composer Guo Wenjing, Ed Spanjaard and the Chinese Opera’s star soprano Shen Timei.

His successful career of 37 years as the conductor of the Nieuw Ensemble resulted in numerous premieres and tours, including invitations to international festivals in Edinburgh, Berlin, Venice and Shanghai.

Intensive and fruitful collaboration with composers like Carter, Harvey, Ferneyhough, Donatoni and Loevendie led to many new works as well as CD recordings. Ed Spanjaard built up a vast repertoire in his years as Chief Conductor at the Limburgs Symphony Orchestra, with programmes dedicated to specific composers (Messiaen, Ravel, Dvořák, Bartók) as well as unique semi-staged performances of Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien, for which – at Spanjaard’s request – a new libretto and choreography were provided by Ramsey Nasr and Toer van Schayk, respectively.

He has received regular invitations as a guest conductor by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ever since 2001, where he is appreciated for his programmes not only of French music (Debussy, Dukas, Roussel) but also of the great symphonic repertoire (e.g. Brahms’ Second and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth). Other orchestras conducted by Ed Spanjaard include the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble InterContemporain (Paris), Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt), Klangforum Wien and both the Munich Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras.

Ed Spanjaard was asked to perform as both a conductor and pianist at the wedding of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima in 2002.

He has conducted the Residentie Orchestra The Hague on several occasions, including a memorable production of Verdi’s Aida and recordings in the renowned series ‘Four Hundred Years of Dutch Music’.

In 2016 he made his debut with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducting Brahms’ German Requiem, and with the Aalto Opera in Essen. Here, he conducted Wagner’s Flying Dutchman and Puccini’s Turandot.

During his recent term as the chief conductor of the Orkest van het Oosten / Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Ed Spanjaard presented a great deal of new repertoire in addition to the greatest works for full symphony orchestra, such as Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique and César Franck’s Symphony in D minor. His performances of these two works at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw received considerable acclaim.

Among the highlights in the 20/21 season were performances in the NTR ZaterdagMatinee at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Groot Omroepkoor (with French repertoire), a performance of Vaughan Williams' 8th Symphony with the philharmonie zuidnederland, the production The Garden with ASKO|Schönberg and a performance with the Residentie Orkest in de Doelen in Rotterdam (Walls of the Universe).

Recently Ed Spanjaard featured in two major music documentaries: Inner Silence by Frank Scheffer during the Holland Festival, about his collaboration with traditional Chinese musicians, and Weggewist by Harro Henkemans, about the life and work of composer-pianist Hans Henkemans. This film had its premiere during the Dutch Film Festival in September 2021.

During the 2021 edition of November Music Ed Spanjaard will once again be performing with the philharmonie zuidnederland in the annual Bosch Requiem, composed this year by Hawar Tawfiq: Requiem des Fleurs et des Nuages (4 November 2021 at the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ and 5 November 2021 at the Jheronimus Bosch Art Center in 's-Hertogenbosch).

The première performance of a new production by the Dutch Touring Opera, led by Ed Spanjaard will take place on 2 April 2022: Bedřich Smetana’s Die verkaufte Braut, in a brand-new Dutch-language adaptation by Anne Lichthart. The opera, with the title: Bruid te koop! (translation: Bride for Sale!), will be on tour extensively throughout the Netherlands until 12 May 2022.

In the 22/23 season Ed Spanjaard will be performing in a series of New Year’s concerts with the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra from 5 until 14 January 2023.

As a pianist, Ed Spanjaard specialises in Lieder accompaniment. Recent concerts include recitals with baritone Maarten Koningsberger, with whom he recorded a CD featuring Mahler’s songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and with cellist Pieter Wispelwey and mezzo-soprano Cora Burggraaf. Ed Spanjaard was appointed Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Amsterdam University of the Arts in September 2012.