As of 1 January 2013, the British conductor Matthew Rowe takes up the position of musical director of the Dutch National Ballet. He succeeds Ermanno Florio, who has held the position since 2004. Rowe has also been appointed principal conductor of Holland Symfonia/The Dutch National Ballet Orchestra. Florio will remain with the Dutch National Ballet as principal guest conductor for at least two productions a season.
Ted Brandsen, artistic director of the Dutch National Ballet, says: “Matthew Rowe is a fantastic conductor with great musical feeling. He has an excellent sense of the orchestral accompaniment needed by the dance and the dancers for achieving the highest possible artistic result. He is also the right person for Holland Symfonia, in order to further reinforce the links between the orchestra and the artistic team”.
Stan Paardekooper, managing director of Holland Symfonia, says: “We are extremely pleased that, in close cooperation with the Dutch National Ballet, we have been able to interest Matthew Rowe in the position of principal conductor of Holland Symfonia/The Dutch National Ballet Orchestra at the start of a new period for our orchestra. His ‘pas de deux’ will be valuable in boosting the quality of our collaboration. Matthew Rowe is a young and exceptionally energetic conductor, with great musical benefits to offer the dancers and orchestra members”.
Matthew Rowe says: “I am thrilled about this step. Having regularly worked with both organisations over the past eight years, we already know each other well, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to deepen our mutual ties”.
“These two great organisations play a significant role in Dutch cultural life and it is my goal to draw them into an even closer partnership in the future. The past few years have been extraordinarily challenging for arts organisations in Holland, particularly Holland Symfonia and the Dutch National Ballet. I would like to pay tribute to my predecessors, Ermanno Florio and Otto Tausk, who have done such important and marvellous work throughout some very difficult times”.
“My greatest passion and interest is for collaborative art forms, so I am particularly excited by the prospect of bringing these musicians and dancers to even greater levels of understanding. Ted Brandsen and his team have great visions for the coming seasons and it will be my privilege to contribute to them”.
about matthew rowe
With the Dutch National Ballet, Rowe recently conducted A master’s touch (September 2012), a programme of works by Hans van Manen, and Present/s (February 2012), the festival of new works with no fewer than nine world premieres spread over two evenings.
Born in London, Matthew Rowe is a versatile conductor with a wide repertoire in the fields of opera, ballet, contemporary music and accompaniment to silent films, including Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights and Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin. He has performed with all the BBC orchestras, as well as with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic. He has also conducted orchestras and ensembles in Scandinavia, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Mexico and the United States. He has worked as a ballet conductor with The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Dutch National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater.
Rowe studied with Colin Metters, George Hurst and John Carewe at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and with Frederik Prausnitz in Baltimore. He has won conducting awards in Denmark, Zagreb and Leeds. Rowe has been the artistic director of the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Choir. In 2009, he was appointed Director of Orchestral Studies at San Diego State University.