Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra & Giordano Bellincampi, Antony Hermus
Biography Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra & Giordano Bellincampi, Antony Hermus
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
is New Zealand’s full-time professional Metropolitan orchestra, serving the country’s largest and most vibrant city with a comprehensive programme of concerts and education and outreach activities.
In more than 70 mainstage performances annually, the APO presents a full season of symphonic work showcasing many of the world’s finest classical musicians. The APO is also proud to support both New Zealand Opera and the Royal New Zealand Ballet in their Auckland performances, as well as working in partnership with Auckland Arts Festival and Michael Hill International Violin Competition.
Renowned for its innovation, passion and versatility, the APO collaborates with some of New Zealand’s most inventive artists. Through its numerous APO Connecting (education, outreach and community) initiatives the APO offers opportunities to more than 20,000 young people and adults nationwide to participate in music.
More than 250,000 people hear the orchestra live each year, with many thousands more reached through special events, recordings and other media.
Giordano Bellincampi
is the Music Director of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Born in Italy and moving to Copenhagen at a young age, he began his career as a trombonist with the Royal Danish Orchestra before making his professional conducting debut in 1994.
Previously, he was the Principal Conductor of I Pomeriggi Musicali, Milan, Chief Conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra from 2013-2018, General Music Director of the Duisburg Philharmonic from 2012-2017, General Music Director of the Danish National Opera, Aarhus from 2005- 2013, Music Director of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra from 2000-2006 and, between 1997-2000 he was also Chief Conductor of the Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, the leading contemporary ensemble in Denmark.
With an enormous repertoire embracing classical, romantic and contemporary music, he is particularly celebrated for his prowess in the Central European, Italian and Scandinavian symphonic traditions, and for his interpretations of significant choral and vocal works.
Highlights of recent seasons have included concert performances of Verdi’s Aida and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with the Auckland Philharmonia, and gala performances of Wagner’s operatic and orchestral music with the Duisburg Philharmonic to mark the reopening of the orchestra’s home in Duisburg’s Mercatorhalle, as well as a strongly acclaimed visit to Amsterdam’s legendary Concertgebouw Hall, in repertoire by Nielsen, Sibelius and Beethoven.
In the 2018/19 season, Giordano Bellincampi makes appearances alongside the Orchestra della Toscana, Estonian National Symphony, Victoria Symphony, and Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, as well as returning to Toledo Symphony, and bringing a concert performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni to Auckland Philharmonia. Maestro Bellincampi will also continue his educational work, conducting New Zealand’s prestigious Michael Hill Violin Competition and the New Zealand Aria singing contest, and working alongside the young players of the Australian Youth Orchestra at the National Music Camp.
As Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Academy, Giordano Bellincampi is dedicated to the work of educating coming generations of orchestra musicians and conductors, and he also regularly gives masterclasses and serves as a jury member for a number of international conducting competitions. In 2010 he was created a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog, an award bestowed by the Danish Royal Family for services to Danish culture, and he also holds the title of Cavaliere from the President of Italy for his international promotion of Italian music.
Antony Hermus
is Principal Guest Conductor of the North Netherlands Orchestra, Artistic Advisor of the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands and Principal Guest Conductor of Opera North.
Having firmly established his symphonic career in his native Holland - where he regularly conducts all the major orchestras, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic - Hermus is increasingly sought-after elsewhere. He has recently appeared with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Scottish and BBC Philharmonic, Danish National, Orchestre National Belgique, Suisse Romande, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Melbourne Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic, among others. He has a wide repertoire which also encompasses many living composers, and a particularly close relationship with Unsuk Chin, whose Piano Concerto he conducted with the Helsinki Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony in 2019. In December 2020 he returns to conduct the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
He has conducted extensively and throughout his career in opera houses across Europe, notably in Stuttgart, Strasbourg, Gothenburg, at the Komische Oper Berlin, the Opéra de Paris studio, Essen and the Nederlandse Reisopera; and was due to make his English National Opera debut in Spring 2020 with a new production of Rusalka, until the pandemic cut short the final rehearsals.
He was Music Director in Dessau from 2009, where he was nominated “Conductor of the Year” by Opernwelt for three years in succession, ending his tenure in summer 2015 with his first Ring cycle and promotion to Honorary Conductor. Before Dessau he had progressed from Repetiteur to Music Director (aged 29) in Hagen, winning many awards for his work there.
In 2017, CPO released Hermus’ much-praised recording with the Bamberg Symphony of tone poems by the Dutch Romantic composer Alphons Diepenbrock, following their recording together of works by Siegmund von Hausegger. His discography on the same label includes works by Wagenaar, Klughardt, and Auber’s opera La Muette de Portici.
Born in Holland, Hermus started playing the piano at the age of six. He studied piano with Jacques de Tiège at the Tilburg Music Conservatory and conducting with Jac van Steen and Georg Fritzsch. Hermus is Visiting Guest Professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
