PETER BILOEN
Peter Biloen was the first Dutch conductor to reach the finals of London's international Donatella Flick Conducting Competition of 2004, directing the London Symphony Orchestra in concert. He was awarded the Anton Kersjes Foundation's national conducting prize and the prestigious Academy Conductor Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival. An expert interpreter of both classic and modern repertoire, Mr Biloen has been hailed in the press for his precise interpretations as well as his adventurous and groundbreaking programming.
In much demand as a guest conductor, engagements in 2013 have included appearances with the Orchestre National de Montpellier, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, deFilharmonie, the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra en Het Gelders Orkest. Last season he returned to Het Gelders Orkest and conducted several programs with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. The opening of the 2015/16 season marked his debut at the Philharmonie Zuidnederland where he will return next season. He will also return to the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra.
Passionate about opera, Biloen conducted Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Summer Opera of Alden Biesen in 2009, Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel at the Royal Theater in The Hague in 2011 and opera's by Haydn, Marschner and Pashkevich in the Grachten Festival of Amsterdam from 2008 to 2012. He also worked as assistant conductor at The Netherlands Opera in 2012 alongside Carlo Rizzi in the preparation of Rossini's Il Turco in Italia and in 2014 at The Opéra National de Paris with Sir Mark Elder for Puccini's La Bohème. At the Zaterdag Matinee in the Concertgebouw he assisted Jaap van Zweden, Edo de Waart, and Hans Graff in numerous opera performances including Wagner's Parsifal and Lohengrin, Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortileges, Verdi's Otello and Puccini's Fanciulla del West with singers such as Eva Maria Westbroek, Robert Holl, Christianne Stotijn, Kristine Jepson, and Klaus Florian Vogt.
Biloen has conducted world premieres and collaborated with numerous renowned composers including Witold Lutoslawski, John Cage, and Pierre Boulez in performances of their works in Europe, the United States, Russia and China. World-premieres he conducted include works by Ron Ford, Fung Lam, Reza Namavar and Marijn Simons. As assistant conductor he worked on premieres by composers including John Luther Adams, Philip Glass, Thomas Larcher, Christopher Rouse, and Peter-Jan Wagemans. This season he will be the assistant conductor for the world premiere of Louis Andriessen's most recent opera, Theatre of the World.
From 2006-2008, Peter Biloen assisted Music Director Jaap van Zweden and guest conductors as Edo de Waart, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Sir Mark Elder, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Frans Bruggen at the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in The Netherlands. In 2007 he made his debut in the Concertgebouw, conducting Fauré's Requiem as a last minute replacement for Van Zweden.
After earning degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 1992 and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in 1998, Biloen continued to study with such mentors as Jorma Panula, Yuri Simonov, David Zinman, Ed Spanjaard, Jac Van Steen and Hans Vonk.
An accomplished violist as well, Biloen draws on his rich experience performing under such conductors as Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Chailly, Carlo Maria Giulini, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Sanderling and Evgeny Svetlanov. A core member of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra for several years, Biloen also performed extensively with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. These experiences have proved essential to his approach to conducting. As he puts it 'Because I've been in that position, playing in orchestras for years, I know what's effective, what's important, what the musician need from me and what I can ask of them. I speak the language of the orchestra.' Composer Louis Andriessen seems to agree: 'He has an unerring instinct for the right tempo; he is brilliant in rehearsing; amazingly to the point, and also very socially gifted in how to make people give the best they have and to make musicians love the music they play.'
Reviews:
'The brilliant maestro Peter Biloen has a thorough and precise approach' Midi Libre
'His economy had elegance. His Mozart was expressive and articulate.' The Classical Source
'He was clearly in complete command of Bruckner's Fourth Symphony. It was remarkable to see Biloen directing each movement with an unerring sense of calm, nobility and accuracy. Climaxes were reached extremely naturally ... Biloen proved to possess just as powerful a left fist as Haitink.' Trouw
