He received his initial training as a violist and composer in Dordrecht with Ferdinand Böhme (harmony), Theodorus Thijssens (violin) and Friedrich Wilhelm Nothdurft (piano).

Admitted to the Leipzig conservatory, Kes studied with the composers Ferdinand David[1] and Carl Reinecke.

Additional studies in composition and fugue followed in Berlin with Joseph Joachim, Friedrich Kiel and Wilhelm Taubert.

A year later, in 1878 he became director of the Dordrecht division of the Rotterdam Music Society (Maatschappij ter Bevordering der Toonkunst), followed by the conductorship of the newly formed Park Orchestra (Parkorkest) at the Parkschouwburg in the Amsterdam Plantage neighborhood in 1883.

Of the audience, he demanded silence during performances and forbade the consumption of refreshments during rehearsals and concerts, which was still common until that time.

Another innovation consisted in the establishment of theme concerts, the first one in 1893 with only modern French composers, attended by Vincent d'Indy and Ernest Chausson.

Under his leadership as conductor, many international soloists played with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, including violinists Pablo de Sarasate, Eugène Ysaÿe, Joseph Joachim and Leopold Auer, pianists Eugen d'Albert and Teresa Carreño, and Portuguese baritone Francisco d'Andrade sang.

During his time in Amsterdam, his students included the young Dutch cellist, Kato van der Hoeven.

When Kes retired in 1895 to join the Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow, his successor Willem Mengelberg played Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto in E flat major as soloist at the farewell concert.