André de Ridder

André de Ridder (b. Germany 1971) is the Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Theater Freiburg.

He is in demand internationally for his impressive stylistic versatility, from baroque to contemporary music. His projects and collaborations take him to orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Ochestra Berlin, Orchestre de Paris and Rotterdam Philharmonic.

Over the course of the 2024/25 Season, De Ridder has conducted new productions of Jenufa, Tosca and Alcina at the Theater Freiburg. Other highlights of the season in Freiburg included concerts with soloists Ilya Gingolts and Kit Armstrong, and symphonic works such as Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet and Oliver Messiaen’s Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà.

De Ridder also made guest appearances this season with such orchestras as the Tonhalle Zurich, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, as well as Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Philharmonia Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Dublin and Concertgebouworkest. He continues his curatorship and performances of  Unclassified Live at London’s Southbank Centre, a series of genre-bending performances featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra.

He has formed close relationships with some of the most prominent opera composers of our generation, including Michel van der Aa, Daníel Bjarnason, York Höller, Nico Muhly and Kaija Saariaho. De Ridder also has collaborated with directors such as David Alden, Kasper Holten, Barrie Kosky and Enda Walsh.

De Ridder is an artistic director and co-founder of s t a r g a z e, performing projects ranging from Bach to avant-garde electronics, and contemporary classical music. The group have gained a significant following, and are regularly invited by leading concert halls, including the Barbican Centre London, the Kölner Philharmonie and Philharmonie de Paris, plus Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Their series ‘(not) Another Beethoven Cycle’ appeared at Elbphilharmonie, Helsinki Festival, Lucerne Festival and Kölner Philharmonie. In the 24/25 Season they are resident at Muzikgebouw in Amsterdam.

De Ridder’s discography includes an album of orchestral music by Bryce Dessner and Jonny Greenwood and the enormously successful Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter, both for Deutsche Grammophon. The Max Richter recording was awarded an ECHO Klassik Classic Without Borders award and has topped the classical charts in over 20 countries. For Transgressive Records, De Ridder also acted as producer on the release of Africa Express Presents: In C Mali. This followed a trip to Bamako, Mali, with Damon Albarn and his Africa Express project. In Mali, de Ridder initiated and led a recording of Riley’s In C with local musicians, joined by travelling Western artists, including Brian Eno and Damon Albarn.

De Ridder 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.