Gijs Leenaars

Gijs Leenaars has been the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunkchor Berlin since the 2015/16 season. Since then, he has successfully collaborated with outstanding conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and is also renowned for his own innovative and creative concepts. He developed the RundfunkchorLounge, with its unique blend of choral singing, chamber music, and interviews, into a hallmark of the ensemble. Gijs Leenaars conducts cross-genre concert performances such as »THE WORLD TO COME«, »human requiem«, and »LUTHER dancing with the gods«, and oversees recordings of both a cappella repertoire and choral symphonic works. Most recently, with the productions »Rote Messe« (2024) and »Flying Mozart« (2025), he demonstrated remarkable versatility in staged performances.

Born in 1978 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, Leenaars is considered one of the most exciting choral conductors of his generation. He studied piano, choral and orchestral conducting, and voice in Nijmegen and Amsterdam. Immediately after completing his studies, he began working with the Netherlands Radio Choir in Hilversum. From 2012 to 2015, he served as the ensemble’s principal conductor, collaborating with maestros such as Mariss Jansons, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and Bernard Haitink. He regularly appears as guest conductor with Collegium Vocale Gent, Cappella Amsterdam, and Nederlands Kamerkoor. Additionally, he has worked with orchestras including the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest The Hague, and Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino.