Thomas Adès

Composer, Conductor

Thomas Adès was born in London in 1971. His compositions include three operas; he conducted the premiere of the most recent, The Exterminating Angel, at the 2016 Salzburg Festival and subsequently at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; and the Royal Opera House, London.

He conducted the premiere and revival of The Tempest at the Royal Opera House and a new production at the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, and in November 2022 at La Scala, Milan. Adès led the world premiere of his full-evening ballet The Dante Project at Covent Garden and conducted it in May 2023 at the Opéra Garnier, Paris. He conducted a new production of The Exterminating Angel, featuring a critically acclaimed staging by Calixto Bieito, in spring 2024 at the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

He frequently leads performances of his orchestral works Asyla (1997); Tevot (2007); Polaris (2010); Violin Concerto Concentric Paths (2005); In Seven Days for piano and orchestra (2008); Totentanz for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and orchestra (2013); and the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2019). Other recent works include Shanty – Over the Sea for strings (2020); Märchentänze for solo violin and piano and a separate version with orchestra (2021); Air – Homage to Sibelius for violin and orchestra, a Roche commission for Anne-Sophie Mutter (2022); and Aquifer, an orchestral work commissioned by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks with support from Carnegie Hall and the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna.

The 2025/26 season sees Adès debut with the Swedish Radio Symphony and Gürzenich-Orchester Köln. Return engagements include the BBC Symphony (Proms), London Symphony, the Hallé, Czech Philharmonic, Concertgebouworkest, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Vienna Radio Symphony. Adès also serves as the Creative Chair of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich for the 2025/26 season and celebrates the 100th birthday of György Kurtág at the Budapest Music Center.

Orchestra conductor in dark suit leads musicians with raised hands as violinists and cellists play in concert hall — Thomas Adès conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall in February 2026.

The world-premiere recording of Thomas Adès’ Dante by Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic won the Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance in February 2024. Recorded live at Walt Disney Concert Hall and released through Nonesuch, Dante is a 90-minute ballet score in three parts inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. It debuted as part of The Dante Project ballet at the Royal Opera House in 2021, choreographed by Wayne McGregor and designed by Tacita Dean.

Adès’ recording of The Tempest from the Royal Opera House (EMI) won the Contemporary category of the 2010 Gramophone Awards; his DVD of the production from the Metropolitan Opera was awarded the Diapason d’Or de l'année (2013), Best Opera Recording (2014 Grammy Awards), and Music DVD Recording of the Year (2014 Echo Klassik Awards). Recent piano releases include an album of solo piano music by Janáček and a live album of Winterreise with Ian Bostridge. Adès’ solo disc of Janáček’s piano music won the 2018 Janáček medal. In 2023, Adès was awarded the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award.