About Stijn Paredis
Stijn Paredis (b. 1992) is a conductor and musicologist based in Leuven, Belgium. He studied percussion with Koen Wilmaers and Carlo Willems before pursuing orchestral conducting with Ivo Venkov at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. He subsequently earned both a Master's degree and a PhD in Musicology from KU Leuven.
As a conductor, Stijn has led his own project ensemble, the Student Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the contemporary music collective Het Incident, La Passione, the Leuvens Alumni Orkest, the Alumni Arenberg Orkest, deCHORALE, and the Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria). Since 2025, he has served as the conductor of the Hagelands Symfonisch Orkest.
Stijn is also a sought-after lecturer and writer for cultural institutions including Concertgebouw Brugge, Bozar, CCHA Hasselt, La Monnaie, Festival 20/21, Klara, and Avansa. Since September 2026, he has been teaching Music History at knst. in Hasselt.
musicologist—lecturer—writer
lectures and writings
Stijn is a passionate lecturer and writer on classical music and musical culture. Since 2018, he has presented pre-concert talks in major concert venues including the Queen Elisabeth Hall (Antwerp), De Bijloke (Ghent), Bozar (Brussels), CCHA Hasselt, and Concertgebouw Brugge. He regularly gives lectures on opera for the socio-cultural organisation Avansa and has appeared on several occasions as a guest on the classical music radio station Klara.
With his Hagelands Symfonisch Orkest, Stijn combines his skills as both conductor and communicator by integrating introductory presentations directly into live performances, offering audiences a deeper and more engaging concert experience.
Dramaturg and creator
During his tenure as the dramaturg of Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (2018-2021), Stijn further refined his skills as a writer, speaker, and artistic programmer. He developed symphonic family concerts and theatrical concert productions in collaboration with renowned actors and theatre companies, including Vic De Wachter, Michaël Pas, Evelien Bosmans, LAZARUS, and De Roovers. Together with De Roovers, he created a concert film based on Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, working closely with conductor Philippe Herreweghe.
With his ensemble Dimlicht, he created two music theatre productions: Zwanenzang, based on a book by Guy Didelez about dementia, featuring music by Mirek Coutigny and Ruben De Gheselle and developed in collaboration with actress Sarah Van Overwaelle; and Rare Snuiters, based on a book by Jan Dewitte and Freya Vlerick, with music by Ben Faes and created in collaboration with director Evelyne Verhellen.
Researcher
In 2020, Stijn graduated summa cum laude from KU Leuven with a Master’s thesis on the symphonic oeuvre of Lodewijk Mortelmans. A year later, he began doctoral research at his alma mater, supported by a scholarship from the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO). Under the supervision of Professors Dominique Bauer, Pieter Bergé, and Steven Vande Moortele, he studied musical life in fin-de-siècle Brussels within the artistic circles of Les XX and La Libre Esthétique.
As part of this research, Stijn collaborated with La Monnaie / De Munt, where he curated a four-part chamber music series featuring little-known works discussed in his research, including music by François Rasse, Gabriel Fauré, and Paul Gilson. He also appeared alongside the acclaimed chamber ensemble Oxalys in a lecture-recital at the second edition of the Oxalys Festival in Brussels.
During his doctoral research, Stijn published articles on Belgian Wagnerism, the reception of Robert Schumann in Belgium, and the Belgian painter Anna Boch. He was awarded his PhD in 2026.
conductor—percussionist
Although Stijn discovered his passion for classical music only at the age of sixteen, he quickly developed into a versatile musician. He began playing pop drums at the age of twelve and later focused on classical percussion and orchestral conducting during his studies at the LUCA School of Arts in Leuven (2010-2011) and the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (2011-2016).
During his studies, Stijn discovered a particular passion for conducting. To gain as much orchestral experience as possible, he founded his own symphony orchestra for a charity concert at deSingel, which he named the Student Philharmonic. The programme featured Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Piano Concerto No. 3 (with Wouter Valvekens), and Symphony No. 7. Other highlights of his student years included conducting for fellow students in their graduation examinations. Among these projects were Gubaidulina’s Fachwerk for solo accordion and Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Stijn was also selected to conduct an opera production of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and led the inaugural project of the ensemble Het Incident, featuring contemporary music by emerging composers.
From 2013 to 2019, he served as conductor of the Royal Family Choir Elsdonk, with whom he performed works including Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 and Saint-Saëns’s Requiem.
Hagelands symfonisch orkest
Following a successful tenure as conductor of the Alumni Arenberg Orchestra in Leuven, Stijn now serves as conductor of the Hagelands Symfonisch Orkest. With this ambitious new ensemble, he has already conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Mozart’s overture to Le nozze di Figaro, Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides Overture and Symphony No. 5 (“Reformation”). In October 2026, he led the orchestra during performances of Scriabin’s Rêverie and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
competitions
In September 2026, Stijn reached the semi-finals in the inaugural Vittorio Antonellini International Conducting Competition in L’Aquila, Italy. Over the course of three rounds, he worked with the musicians of I Solisti Aquilani on repertoire by Mozart, Rota, Mendelssohn, and Bartók. The jury, which included Jan Willem de Vriend and Andrew Marriner, praised his stylistic awareness, musicality, and collaborative approach to rehearsing and performance.
Masterclasses
Stijn has furthered his conducting studies with Lior Shambadal and the Berlin Sinfonietta in Berlin, Benjamin Zander in Manchester, and Achim Holub in London. As part of Holub’s conducting course, he took part in a competition in which he was awarded Second Prize by both the jury and the orchestra musicians.
In 2018, after a warmly received audition with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra within the framework of the International Master in Orchestral Conducting in The Hague and Amsterdam, he was coached by Jac van Steen, Ed Spanjaard, and Kenneth Montgomery. He has also received artistic guidance from Jan Caeyers.