Debut at Luzerner Sinfonieorchester on April 29th 2026
David Afkham is renowned for his outstanding technique and compelling artistic vision. He enjoys international acclaim and is regarded as one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation. Since September 2019, Afkham has served as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España. Prior to this, he was Principal Conductor of the orchestra from 2014, achieving considerable success in the role.
His career is marked by acclaimed appearances with leading orchestras worldwide, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has also conducted the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
David Afkham is also a frequent guest in North America, where he has conducted ensembles such as The Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in New York.
Alongside his concert work, Afkham is regularly active in opera. He has conducted performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio and Strauss’s Arabella at the Semperoper Dresden, as well as a new production of Arabella at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Further productions have taken him to Oper Frankfurt with Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, to the Stuttgart State Opera with Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, and back to the Teatro Real with Ginastera’s Bomarzo. At the Glyndebourne Festival, he conducted Verdi’s La Traviata, a production that subsequently toured the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Madrid, he has also led semi-staged performances with the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, including Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, Tristan und Isolde, Strauss’s Elektra and Salome, as well as Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle.
Highlights of the 2025/26 season include his return to the NHK Symphony Orchestra for a tour of Japan, as well as debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Elektra) and Seattle Opera, where he will conduct Strauss’s Daphne in concert form.
Further engagements include a return to the Minnesota Orchestra and an appearance at the Grafenegg Festival with the Tonkünstler Orchestra. Together with the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España and cellist Pablo Ferrández, Afkham will also tour Germany and Austria. Central to his work with his orchestra this season are Berg’s Wozzeck, Honegger’s Symphonie Liturgique, Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 and Britten’s War Requiem.
Born in Freiburg, David Afkham received early training in piano and violin. He studied at the Freiburg University of Music and later at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar. As the first recipient of the Bernard Haitink Fund for Young Talent, he worked closely with Maestro Haitink, including on symphonic cycles with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. From 2009 to 2012, Afkham served as assistant conductor of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra.
David Afkham is the winner of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition 2008 in London and was awarded the inaugural Young Conductors Award by Nestlé and the Salzburg Festival in 2010.
