Antony Hermus is Chief Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, conducting the orchestra at their home in Brussels BOZAR, on tour internationally, and at the Queen Elisabeth Competition. A leading figure in Dutch musical life, he conducts all the major orchestras in Holland including Royal Concertgebouw, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest and Rotterdam Philharmonic. He has become known for his infectiously positive approach to music and life, and his natural talent for encouraging musicians to give their very best. His dramatic flair, sense of line and clear-sighted approach are equally successful in the opera house and in the concert hall.

He has a wide symphonic repertoire with a particular focus on Bruckner and Mahler, and is nearing completion of a Mahler cycle with Noord Nederlands Orkest, where he has been Principal Guest since 2015. He has a particularly close relationship with Unsuk Chin, who invited him to conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in the 2023 Presences Festival dedicated to her work.

In 23/24 he will conduct Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Orquesta Sinfonica da Galicia and the orchestras in Stavanger and Trondheim. He is a regular guest with the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, and Danish National, and has appeared with many other distinguished orchestras across the globe – notably the Philharmonia, Suisse Romande, Bamberg Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Melbourne Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic.  He made his North American debut with the Oregon Symphony in 2023 and conducts the Vancouver Symphony in 2024.

He has been Principal Guest at Opera North since 2019; plans in 2023/24 include a double-bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Aleko, after his critically acclaimed production of Ariadne auf Naxos last season.

Hermus has conducted extensively throughout his career in opera houses across Europe, notably in Stuttgart, Strasbourg, Gothenburg, at the Komische Oper Berlin, the Opéra de Paris studio, Essen and the Nederlandse Reisopera.  He was Music Director in Dessau from 2009, ending his tenure in summer 2015 with his first Ring cycle and promotion to Honorary Conductor. Before Dessau he had progressed from Trainee-Repetiteur to Music Director (aged 29) in Hagen, winning many awards for his work there.

In 2017 CPO released his much-praised recording with the Bamberg Symphony of tone poems by the Dutch Romantic composer Alphons Diepenbrock, following their recording together of works by Siegmund von Hausegger. His discography on the same label includes works by Wagenaar, Klughardt, and Auber’s opera La Muette de Portici.

For Hermus, 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 and Symphonic Cinema (Mahler/Stravinsky). 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.

Hermus started playing the piano at the age of six. He studied piano with Jacques de Tiège at the Brabant Music Conservatory and conducting with Jac van Steen and Georg Fritzsch. He is passionately committed to nurturing the next generation of young musicians; he is Visiting 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. He is also Artistic Advisor of the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands.