Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

David Afkham is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquestra y Coro Nacional de España since September 2019, following a highly successful tenure as the orchestra’s Principal Conductor since 2014. His work with the OCNE so far has featured critically acclaimed performances of Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, Bruckner Symphony No. 9, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, Brahms’ Requiem, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, as well as several world premieres and semi- staged projects with Wagner’s Die fliegende Holländer,   Strauss’ Elektra,   Bach’s St.   Mathew   Passion and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. Born in Freiburg, Germany, in 1983, David Afkham is in high demand as a guest conductor with some of the world’s finest orchestras and opera houses, and has established a reputation as one of the most sought after conductors to emerge from Germany in recent years.

Future highlights as a guest conductor include debuts with the Belgian National Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, the Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) as well as return invitations to the Copenhagen Philharmonic and NDR Elbphilharmonie.

As an opera conductor, David Afkham made a noted debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2014, with Verdi’s La Traviata, later reviving the production for performances around the UK and Ireland for Glyndebourne on Tour. In 2017, he conducted Ginastera’s Bomarzo at Teatro Real in Madrid in a new production by Pierre Audi, to unanimous critical acclaim, and leading to an immediate re-invitation. In season 18/19 he made his German opera debut at Frankfurt Opera with Humperdinck’s Hänsel&Gretel, followed by Stuttgart Opera with Wagner’s Die fliegende Holländer. He opened his 19/20 season at Theater an der Wien with Dvorak’s Rusalka and is looking forward to productions of Strauss’ Arabella and Wagner’s Meistersinge at the Teatro Real Madrid.

David Afkham began piano and violin lessons at the age of six in his native Freiburg. At 15, he entered the city’s University of Music to pursue studies in piano, music theory and conducting and continued his studies at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar. David Afkham was the first recipient of the ‘Bernard Haitink Fund for Young Talent’ and assisted Maestro Bernard Haitink in a number of major projects including symphony cycles with the Chicago Symphony, Concertgebouworkest and London Symphony Orchestra. He was the winner of the 2008 Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London, and was the inaugural recipient of the ‘Nestle and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award’ in 2010. He and was Assistant Conductor of the Gustav Mahler Jungendorchester 2009-2012.

Highlights among David’s guest conducting projects to date include the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the 2016 and 2017 Tanglewood festivals, the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, DSO-Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre National de France, Gothenburg Symphony, Swedish radio Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as the Mostly Mozart Festival New York, tours with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Deutscher Kammerphilharmonie and Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and regular appearances at the Musikverein, Vienna with the Wiener Symphoniker and the Gustav Mahler Jungendorchester.

Universally recognized among today’s top performing artists, Vadim Gluzman breathes new life and passion into the golden era of the 19th and 20th centuries‘ violin tradition. Gluzman's wide repertoire embraces new music, and his performances are heard around the world through livestreams, broadcasts and a striking catalogue of award-winning recordings for the BIS label. 

The Israeli violinist appears with world’s leading orchestras and conductors, including Tugan Sokhiev with the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and Orchestre de Paris; Neeme Järvi with Chicago Symphony and London Philharmonic; Riccardo Chailly with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali with Gothenburg Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestra, as well as with the Cleveland Orchestra under the batons of Hannu Lintu and Michail Jurowski. He appears at Ravinia, Tanglewood, BBC Proms, Grant Park and the North Shore Chamber Music Festival, he has founded in 2011. 

Gluzman starts the 2023/24 season with a return to the London Proms with the BBC Symphony and Gustavo Gimeno, followed by performances with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, London Philharmonia Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, as well as Florida Orchestra, Vancouver and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras. He conducts a masterclass and performs at the Kronberg Festival and continues to lead performances with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio, where he serves as a Creative Partner and Principal Guest Artist. 

Gluzman has premiered works by Sofia Gubaidulina, Moritz Eggert, Giya Kancheli, Elena Firsova, Pēteris Vasks, Michael Daugherty and Lera Auerbach. In the current season he will introduce new violin concerto by Erkki-Sven Tüür with HR Frankfurt Radio Orchestra and Nicholas Collon.  

Accolades for his extensive discography include the Diapason d’Or of the Year, Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice, Classica magazine’s Choc de Classica award, and Disc of the Month by The Strad, BBC Music Magazine and ClassicFM. 

Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Peabody Conservatory, where he teaches a selected group of young violinists, Gluzman performs on the legendary 1690 ‘ex-Leopold Auer’ Stradivari, on extended loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.