As one of the Netherlands' most active conductors, Jac van Steen has forged a great many long-term relationships with orchestras in the Netherlands, Germany, and lately, the United Kingdom.
Van Steen has brought a unique brand of energy and eclecticism to his regular appearances with the BBC SO, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, taking up the principal guest conductor post in May 2005.
Following tenures as chief conductor of the Nürnberger Symphoniker and music director of the Neues Berliner Kammerorchester, van Steen became the music director of Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Weimar, and Musikkollegium Winterthur in August 2002.
He guests regularly with the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Bayrische Rundfunk München and other major orchestras in Germany.
In his native country, van Steen was the music director of Het Nationale Ballet in Amsterdam until 1994 and has since conducted the Residentie Orchestra of the Hague, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic and the Radio Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras.
Jac van Steen was born in Eindhoven and studied orchestral and choral conducting, as well as music theory, at the Brabants Conservatory of Music. He is currently on the faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Music in the Hague.
Working with young musicians has always had his interest and he is involved in several projects with young people, such as project with the Royal Northern College of Music and the Chetham School of Music, Manchester.
