Artistic Director Ulrike Niehoff to leave the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in July 2023

Artistic Director Ulrike Niehoff has announced that she will leave the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at the end of this season. 

Ulrike Niehoff joined the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in January 2021 as Artistic Director and, alongside Dominik Winterling and David Bazen, as member of the managing board.

“Ulrike’s time as Artistic Director has been marked by a series of outstanding successes. She and her two managing board colleagues steered the Concertgebouw Orchestra through the pandemic, with live audiences returning in full force to enjoy celebrated and critically acclaimed concerts at home and abroad. Ulrike shaped an artistic vision that has united the orchestra’s legacy with its commitment to diversity and inclusion, inviting many distinguished conductors while securing the debuts of outstanding women conductors such as Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Barbara Hannigan, and commissioning new works by female composers. Ulrike has prioritized engaging with the broader Amsterdam community, bringing the orchestra to new locations in the city and initiating free open-air concerts at the start of the season. And with the signing of Klaus Mäkelä as its next Chief Conductor the orchestra's future looks very bright indeed. We regret Ulrike's decision to leave but of course respect it and thank her for her excellent work. We wish her every success with her future endeavours."

“I am proud of what we have achieved together during my time as Artistic Director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The orchestra is in glowing form and in Klaus Mäkelä has its next Chief Conductor to lead it into an extraordinarily promising future. Nevertheless, I have decided to continue my career elsewhere and will communicate on this at a later stage. I am very grateful for the productive collaboration with our Governing Board, my colleagues in the Managing Board, all staff members and, especially, all the musicians of this wonderful orchestra.”

Ulrike Niehoff will continue with full commitment to work on the artistic programming for future seasons until her departure in July. The Governing Board has started consultations on Ulrike’s succession and intends to make an announcement before Ulrike’s departure.