Professors

1st photo: Bert Hulselmans, 2nd photo: Theresa Pewal

Jaap van Zweden began his tenure as the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2018. He also serves as Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, a post he has held since 2012. He has conducted orchestras on three continents, appearing as guest with leading orchestras such as, in Europe, the Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic, and, in the United States, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. 
In October 2022 Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic reopen the renovated David Geffen Hall with HOME, a month-long housewarming for the Orchestra and its audiences. Other 2022–23 season highlights include SPIRIT, which explores humanity’s relationship with the cosmos through performances of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-symphonie and J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and EARTH, a response to the climate crisis that includes Julia Wolfe’s unEarth and John Luther Adams’s Become Desert. 
Born in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden, at age 19, was appointed the youngest-ever concertmaster of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He began his conducting career almost 20 years later, in 1996. Recently named Conductor Emeritus of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, he remains Honorary Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, where he was Chief Conductor (2005–13); served as Chief Conductor of the Royal Flanders Orchestra (2008–11); and was Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (2008–18), where he is now Conductor Laureate. Jaap van Zweden was named Musical America’s 2012 Conductor of the Year and was the subject of an October 2018 CBS 60 Minutes profile on the occasion of his arrival at the New York Philharmonic. In 2020 he was awarded the prestigious Concertgebouw Prize, and in 2019, under his leadership, the Hong Kong Philharmonic was named Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year.
Jaap van Zweden has recorded numerous renowned recordings, including world premieres by David Lang and Julia Wolfe. Since his debut in Gstaad (2017), he produced several live recordings with the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, including Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony and Brahms' 4th Symphony. 
In 1997 Jaap van Zweden and his wife, Aaltje, established the Papageno Foundation to support families of children with autism.

Jaap van Zweden - Biography

Swiss conductor Johannes Schlaefli is currently Artistic Director of the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra and of the Alumni-Symphony-Orchestra Zürich. He is also Principal Guest Professor for the Conducting Classes at the Music Universities in Zürich and Frankfurt.Johannes has enjoyed a long career as one of the most highly sought-after conducting teachers worldwide.

He has worked with institutions such as the Sibelius Academy Helinski, the Juilliard-School New York, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and many others. He also serves as Head of Teaching at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Conducting Academy and works together with the prestigious “Dirigentenforum” in Germany as well as with the Norwegian “Dirigentloftet” in Oslo. As a guest professor, he has taught throughout Europe at the Music Universities of Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Manchester, Copenhagen and Helsinki.

Johannes Schlaefli - Biography