Jaap van Zweden
(c) Hans Vanderwoerd/IMG
Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden, 60, has announced that he will leave the New York Philharmonic in 2024 after the expiration of his contract. In an interview with the New York Times he said the pandemic made him reconsider his relationship with the orchestra and his family and that he now has other priorities in life.
Van Zweden suffered from COVID-19 and he said that he lost more than 30 kilograms. “It changed me so much as a person,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. Furthermore, US travel restrictions made it difficult to maintain contact with the orchestra.
The Dutchman is currently also Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2012, a tenure expected to run until 2024.
