Musicians of sinfonia ViVA

André de Ridder
Principal Conductor

André de Ridder has collaborated with artists and ensembles as diverse as BBC Symphony Orchestra, award-winning cartoon band Gorillaz, jazz musician Uri Caine and MusikFabrik. He is Principal Conductor of the UK-based sinfonia ViVA, and his first few seasons with the orchestra have been highlighted by a range of innovative programmes. His passion for the development of contemporary music has contributed to his position as one of the most fascinating conductors emerging today.

In the UK, de Ridder is a regular guest with such orchestras as the Philharmonia ('Music of Today' series), London Sinfonietta, Ulster Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic (with whom he has performed at the BBC Proms), BBC NOW, Britten Sinfonia, and the Hallé Orchestra, where he held the position of Assistant Conductor from 2005-2006. In Europe, he has recently worked with such orchestras as Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Copenhagen Opera Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Umea Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Camerata Salzburg, with whom he went on tour in February 2010. These have led to many reinvitations in future seasons.

André de Ridder has appeared at venues such as English National Opera, Teatro Real and Salzburg Festival, performing operas by composers as diverse as Henze, Gerald Barry and Mozart. In summer 2009, he conducted The Cunning Little Vixen at Grange Park Opera, in a new production by David Alden, and he returned to Theater Basel in autumn 2009 to conduct a Wolfgang Rihm trilogy. In 2007-2008 he led premiere performances of Damon Albarn's hugely successful Monkey: Journey to the West at the inaugural Manchester International Festival, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. The phenomenal success of Monkey has resulted in further projects currently in development with the composer and de Ridder recently appeared, with sinfonia VIVA, on Albarn's band Gorillaz' latest album 'Plastic Beach'.

Premieres planned for 2010/2011 include a new work by Liza Lim for the Holland Festival in 2011, an appearance at the Venice Biennale, conducting new works by Italian composers, and a major orchestral collaboration with the German band Mouse on Mars.

In February 2010, de Ridder premiered Anna Meredith's Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra at London's Southbank Centre and further performances of the work are planned. In 2008/2009 he led a tribute to the band Moondog with Britten Sinfonia at London's Barbican Centre, returning to the Barbican later, with BBC Symphony Orchestra, as part of their focus on Wolfgang Rihm. De Ridder conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in June 2010 at London's Royal Festival Hall in a performance of works featured in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, alongside a screening of the film.

Brought up and educated in Berlin, André de Ridder studied at the Music Academies of Vienna and London, under Leopold Hager and Sir Colin Davis. As a post-graduate student, he was Young Conductor in Association with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

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Photo credit: Marco Borggreve