“Passionate music making.
Beyond the notes.”
Antony Hermus has become known for his infectiously positive approach to music and life, and his natural talent for encouraging musicians to give their very best. Combining dramatic flair, a strong sense of line and clear-sighted musical thinking, he is equally successful in the opera house and in the concert hall.
Having recently completed his tenure as Chief Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, Hermus takes up the title of Conductor Laureate with the orchestra for 2026/27. From 2027/28 he becomes Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, with whom he will appear annually at the BBC Proms.
Principal Guest of Opera North since 2019, his recent semi-staged Simon Boccanegra received 5-star reviews on tour and at the Southbank Centre. Operatic commitments this season include leading Opera North in a semi-staged production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Berlioz La Damnation de Faust with RTE National Symphony of Ireland.
Guest highlights in 2026/27 include debuts with Montreal Symphony and Liverpool Philharmonic, among returns with a.o. Vancouver Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Strasbourg Philharmonic, and Polish National Radio Symphony. Last season he conducted Mahler 8 with the North Netherlands Orchestra, bringing their Mahler-cycle to a close and returned a.o. to the Royal Concertgebouw, Danish National and Royal Philharmonic orchestras, alongside debuts with the KBS Seoul, Barcelona Symphony and Orchestre National de Bordeaux. He has appeared with orchestras across the globe (many of them regularly), notably the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Philharmonia, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, Bamberg Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica da Galicia, Melbourne Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic.
For Antony, music is an essential part of life and society. Always pushing the boundaries of traditional concert programming, Antony has been involved in numerous out-of-the-box-projects, such as Ligeti at the “Lowlands” rock festival, Symphonic Cinema (Mahler/Holst/Stravinsky), and a huge community project around Charles Ives (a.o. with Symphony Nr. 4). He was initiator of the award-winning „Scratch“ concerts and of the first performances in Germany of “Tweetfonie” (52 world premieres on one day) during his Residency at the International Kurt Weill Festival.
Antony is passionately committed to nurturing the next generation of young musicians; he is Visiting Conducting Professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the “National Master of Orchestral Conducting” programme and teaches regularly at Sibelius Academy and Royal Northern College of Music where he was made a Fellow in 2025 in acknowledgement of his contribution to musical life in the North of England. He is also Artistic Advisor of the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands.
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