Bas Wiegers has distinguished himself with his charisma, openness, and nondogmatic approach at the helm of leading European orchestras and soloist ensembles. The conductor approaches his work with tremendous thoughtfulness and draws on his extensive experience as a violinist and a wide-ranging knowledge of repertoire, ranging from baroque to contemporary music.
In his homeland of the Netherlands, Bas Wiegers has worked with ensembles including the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and, together with Peter Eötvös, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In addition, he has made guest appearances with the SWR Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Resonanz, at the Cologne Opera and at festivals such as November Music, Holland Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Wien Modern, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, London Almeida Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, and Acht Brücken in Cologne.
In the 2020/21 season, he will be a seelenverwandter or "soul-mate" artist in the eponymous series at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam: there, he will appear with the AskoSchönberg Ensemble and Klangforum Wien, where he has been principal guest conductor since September 2018. He will also conduct Klangforum in Vienna and Graz, as well as for the first time at the Prague Spring Festival. At the Opéra national de Lorraine, he conducts Britten's Turn of the Screw and several symphony concerts.
His debuts at the Stuttgart Opera (Death in Venice) and the Flemish Opera (KOMA), scheduled for 2020, had to be cancelled due to the Corona virus, alongside the Klagenfurt premiere of Sciarrino's new opera Il canto s'attrista, perché?, which was rehearsed almost completely under Bas Wiegers’ direction.
Bas Wiegers is a treasured musical partner for composers such as Louis Andriessen, Georges Aperghis, Georg Friedrich Haas, Helmut Lachenmann, Salvatore Sciarrino, and Rebecca Saunders.
Following his musical education in Amsterdam and Freiburg, Bas Wiegers began a successful career as a violinist with an emphasis on early music. In 2009 he was awarded a conducting scholarship from the Kersjes Foundation, and later worked as an assistant to Mariss Jansons and Susanna Mälkki at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, an experience which convinced him to focus entirely on conducting.
2020/21 season
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