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.

In the Netherlands, he was conductor and music director of the Nijmegen Bach Choir from 1986 to 1990. From 1989 to 1994, he was the Music Director of Het Nationale Ballet in Amsterdam. From 1997 to 2002, van Steen was Chief Conductor of the Nürnberger Symphoniker and served as Music Director of the Neues Berliner Kammerorchester. From 2002 to 2005, he was Music Director of Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar and Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Weimar and from 2002 to 2008 chief conductor of the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur. Since May 2005, he has been Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and became chief conductor of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008.

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.