David Afkham
Conductor
© Gisela Schenker
David Afkham, Chief Conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra & Chorus, is appearing at Oper Frankfurt for the first time, conducting Hänsel und Gretel. Born in Freiburg, he conducted his first opera, La traviata, at the 2014 Glyndebourne Festival which was followed by, amongst others, Ginastera's Bomarzo at the Teatro Real in Madrid and concert performances of Elektra and Bluebeard's Castle. In 2019 he conducts Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer / The Flying Dutchman at the Staatsoper in Stuttgart and has been invited to the Spring Festival in Tokyo. Other plans include Parsifal, Rusalka, Arabella and Weinberg's Die Passagierin / The (female) Passenger. David Afkham has made an international name for himself on the concert podium, having appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, the Munich Philharmonic, the hr-Sinfonieorchester, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic and Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He has also worked with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival, the London Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra and Staatskapelle Berlin. He appears with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for the first time on tour during the spring of 2019. After studying in Freiburg and Weimar he assisted Bernard Haitink and was the first artist to receive a scholarship from the »Bernard Haitink Fund for Young Talent«. He won the 2008 die Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London and 2010 Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award.