Antony Hermus was Chief Conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra from 2022 to 2026, and became Conductor Laureate for the 2026/27 season. His last season with the BNO took him on a five-concert tour to Korea, to the Queen Elisabeth Competition, and at their home in Bozar, Brussels. From 2027/28 he takes up the position of Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, appearing annually at the BBC Proms.
A significant figure in Dutch musical life, he regularly conducts all the major orchestras in Holland including Royal Concertgebouw, Residentie Orkest, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic. He was Principal Guest of the North Netherlands Orchestra from 2015-2024 and is now Honorary Conductor for Life.
Internationally, he regularly collaborates with prestigious orchestras such as the Danish National, Royal Philharmonic and Auckland Philharmonia, BBC Scottish Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de Lyon, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lille, Orquesta Sinfonica da Galicia, Melbourne Symphony, Oregon and Vancouver symphonies, and Seoul Philharmonic.
Very active in the opera world, Antony Hermus has conducted at numerous European opera houses, including those in Leeds (Opera North as Principal Guest), Stuttgart, Berlin, Gothenburg, Strasbourg, Rouen, and Paris. He was Music Director in Dessau from 2009, ending his tenure in summer 2015 with his first Ring cycle and promotion to Honorary Conductor for Life.
For Hermus, music is an essential part of life and society. Always pushing the boundaries of traditional concert programming, Antony has been involved in numerous out-of-the-box-projects, such as Ligeti at the “Lowlands” rock festival and Symphonic Cinema (Mahler/Stravinsky). He was initiator of the award-winning „Scratch“ concerts and of the first performances in Germany of “Tweetfonie” (52 world premieres on one day) during his Residency at the International Kurt Weill Festival.
Hermus started playing the piano at the age of six. He studied piano with Jacques de Tiège and conducting with Jac van Steen and Georg Fritzsch. He is passionately committed to nurturing the next generation of young musicians; he is Visiting Professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and at the “National Master of Orchestral Conducting” programme, and teaches regularly at Sibelius Academy and Royal Northern College of Music where he was made a Fellow in 2025 in acknowledgement of his contribution to musical life in the North of England. He is also Artistic Advisor of the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands.
"The Belgian National Orchestra will always hold a special place in my heart. As Conductor Laureate, it doesn’t feel like a return to me, but rather the next chapter in the extraordinary story we are writing together. I look forward to making music again with these fantastic musicians and sharing special moments with our audience."
