About

While still studying at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Jos van Veldhoven saw the musical world around him changing at a rapid pace. Profound questions were being asked about the established performance practices of choirs and orchestras, and many ensembles for early and contemporary music were being founded. Training programs for early music were still virtually non-existent, but new heroes such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman, Sigiswald Kuijken, and Philippe Herreweghe were beginning to define the musical landscape. With all these people literally around him, Jos van Veldhoven also opted for a far-reaching specialization.

The Utrecht Barok Consort

In 1976, Jos van Veldhoven founded his own Early Music ensemble: the Utrecht Barok Consort. It was a group of friends who wanted to delve into the performance practice of music from the 17th and 18th centuries and who were full of ambition: fanatical, curious, willing to experiment, and in search of new and unknown repertoire. For years, for example, the ensemble performed a Baroque opera in concert form twice a year, giving it a new, this time contemporary, première.

The Netherlands Bach Society

In 1983, a major breakthrough came when Jos van Veldhoven was asked to become artistic director of the prestigious Netherlands Bach Society. Until then, the society had been a group that performed mainly the music of Johann Sebastian Bach with an amateur choir and various modern orchestras. In the years that followed, Jos van Veldhoven developed the ensemble into a world-class choir and a specialized orchestra playing on period instruments. The repertoire was expanded from the 16th to the early 19th century, and since the launch of All of Bach in 2014, the Netherlands Bach Society has also gained an important worldwide place on the digital stage.

Guest conductor

In 2018, after more than 35 years, Jos van Veldhoven stepped down as artistic director of the Netherlands Bach Society. Since then, he has been a much sought-after guest conductor with choirs and orchestras worldwide. He also gives lectures and masterclasses on the performance practice of music from the 17th and 18th centuries, and that of Johann Sebastian Bach in particular. His repertoire has continued to expand. Recently, he has performed Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, Haydn’s Schöpfung, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Brahms’s German Requiem. The program for the coming years includes Dvorák’s Stabat Mater and Poulenc’s Gloria.

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Photo Credits: Paul Huf, Anna Schrijver, Wouter Jansen, Wouter Jansen, Studio van der Velden, Studio van der Velden, Award ceremony St.Martins Medal (2019), OBF Delene & Co