Flemish conductor Koen Kessels (1961) is the new musical director of Het Nationale Ballet and artistic director and chief conductor of Het Balletorkest. Kessels takes office on 1 August 2024 in his new role. He is currently musical director of both The Royal Ballet (Covent Garden, London) and Birmingham Royal Ballet. He will combine his new position at Het Nationale Ballet and Het Balletorkest with his role at The Royal Ballet. He will step down from his position as musical director of Birmingham Royal Ballet at the end of the current theatre season.
Koen Kessels is the successor to Matthew Rowe, who announced his departure last April after more than ten years of service. Rowe will remain until the end of July 2024 and will return as a permanent guest conductor.
Kessels has been working as a guest conductor at Het Nationale Ballet and Het Balletorkest since November 2008 and recently conducted the productions The Sleeping Beauty (December 2022) and the programme Dawson with compositions by Max Richter and Alex Baranowski (December 2022).
Koen Kessels: "To take a next step together with Ted Brandsen, Het Nationale Ballet and Het Balletorkest and to continue writing and telling the story together is tremendously exciting. I feel very honoured by this challenge and at the same time also feel like coming home to a company and an orchestra with which a very fascinating collaboration has developed over some time."
Ted Brandsen, Director of Het Nationale Ballet: "Koen is an inspiring musician and a pleasant artistic partner for both our company and the orchestra. His extensive international experience as one of the most prominent conductors for dance is of great importance for the further development of the already high level of the musical aspect of our productions. His position as musical director of The Royal Ballet in London will contribute to even closer collaboration between both companies."
Piet van Gennip, General Director of Het Balletorkest: "With Koen Kessels we welcome a great ballet conductor and a worthy successor to Matthew Rowe. Koen consistently succeeds in connecting music and dance into a magical experience for the audience. Together with the musicians and staff of Het Balletorkest, I very much look forward to deepening the collaboration with Koen in the years to come."
Koen Kessels – brief biography
Koen Kessels, born in Oostende, studied at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen. In 2010 he was appointed musical director of Birmingham Royal Ballet and in 2015 musical director of The Royal Ballet (Covent Garden, London).
He regularly works as a guest conductor at Teatro alla Scala (Milan, Italy), Bayerisches Staatsballett (Baden-Baden, Germany) and Opéra national de Paris and conducts for companies such as New York City Ballet, Kunliga Operan (Stockholm, Sweden), De Munt (Brussels), Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (Antwerp / Ghent), Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Wiener Staatsballett, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Real Madrid, and the New National Theatre, Tokyo. His ballet repertoire includes Coppelia, Cinderella, Giselle, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Firebird, Jewels and Romeo and Juliet.
His opera repertoire includes Saariaho's L'Amour de loin (Opera Ballet Vlaanderen), Hosokawa's Hanjo, Lens's Shell Shock, Requiem of War (De Munt, Brussels), Wim Henderickx's De bekeerlinge (Opera Ballet Vlaanderen) and operas by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini and Britten, among others.
DVD releases he contributed to include: Proust, Cinderella, Coppelia, Hommage à Jerôme Robbins and La Petite Danseuse de Degas (Opéra national de Paris), The Nutcracker & The Tale of the Mouseking, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Frankenstein, Woolf Works, Alice's adventures in Wonderland, Bernstein Celebration, Mayerling, The Dante Project (The Royal Ballet), Cinderella (Birmingham Royal Ballet) and La Reine Morte (Ballet du Capitole).
Kessels is honorary professor at the music faculty of the University of Birmingham, artistic director of Inspiratum (Belgium) and chairman of the Artistic Staff Classical Music of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen. As artistic director of the Belgian HERMESensemble he has collaborated with composers such as Abrahamsen, Bartholomée, Benjamin, Brewaeys, Ferrari, Henderickx, Hosokawa, Van Hove, Huber, Maresz, Murail, Pagh-Paan, Van Parys, Saariaho, Talbot and Yared.