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André de Ridder

Music Director Designate

André de Ridder is currently the General Music Director of Theater Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where he has conducted titles such as Wozzeck, Hansel and Gretel, The Magic Flute, Don Carlos, Jenůfa, and Alcina. He will assume the position of Music Director Designate from September 2025 and will take up his post as ENO’s Music Director in Autumn 2027.

André has strong links with the UK and appears regularly with orchestras such as the Hallé Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra. He additionally curates and performs Unclassified Live at London’s Southbank Centre, a series of genre-defying performances featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra. Strongly committed to new music, he has previously conducted for ENO the premieres of Gerald Barry’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant in 2005, and Michel van der Aa’s Sunken Garden in 2013. In 2007, he led the world premiere of Damon Albarn’s and Chen Shi-Zheng’s animation opera, Monkey: Journey to the West at the Manchester International Festival, and subsequent performances at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and Royal Opera House, London. He has given premieres of works by composers such as Daníel Bjarnason, Bryce Dessner, Max Richter, Wolfgang Rihm and Kaija Saariaho, as well as collaborating with bands such as Dirty Projectors, The Flaming Lips and Gorillaz.

André was Artistic Director of Musica Nova Helsinki 2017 – 2021, and in 2018 was the recipient of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for his innovative work as Artistic Curator of London’s Spitalfields Festival. In recent seasons, he has appeared as a guest conductor at opera houses including Finnish National Opera, Dutch National Opera, Theater Basel, Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Oper Köln.

Last updated: 23rd June 2025