Philippe Herreweghe

Philippe Herreweghe, who celebrated his 75th birthday in May 2022, attended the Jesuit College in his hometown of Ghent, studied piano at the local conservatory, and initially completed studies in medicine and psychiatry in 1975. At the same time, he took lessons in harpsichord, organ, and choral conducting. He founded the Collegium Vocale Gent in 1970. Following a performance of Bach’s St. John Passion in Amsterdam, he was invited by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt to collaborate with this ensemble on their joint recording of the complete Bach cantatas. In 1977, Herreweghe founded the Chapelle Royale, specializing in the interpretation of French music of the 17th and 18th centuries. He expanded the historical radius in 1991 by founding the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, which performs works from the Classical period to early modernism. For 20 years, from 1982 to 2002, Herreweghe led the Académies Musicales de Saintes; from 1998 to 2002 he was also Music Director of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, now the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, with which he continues to be associated as an Honorary Conductor. He appears regularly with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and has also been a guest conductor with other renowned orchestras, including, in the 2021-22 season, the Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Herreweghe has recorded more than 120 CDs; since 2010 he has released them on his own φ (phi) label. He was elected European Musician of the Year in 1991, was named an Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 1994, and was raised to the peerage by the King of Belgium in 2003; in the same year, he was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. He was awarded the Bach Medal in Leipzig in 2010 and, in 2021, the Musikfest Prize Bremen.

Lucerne Festival (IMF) debut on 16 April 1992 in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, leading La Chapelle Royale and the Collegium Vocale Gent.

July 2022