The Dresden Staatskapelle this week announced that David Afkham would be stepping-in for Christian Thielemann on their upcoming European tour. The programme centres around Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with soloist Julia Fischer, as part of a series to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the composer’s death.

David will join the orchestra for two performances in Dresden on 14 and 15 November; the second concert will be broadcast live from 8:05PMon MDR Kultur and MDR Klassik. They follow this with appearances in Luxembourg, Munich and at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on 22 November, with additional concerts on 13, 18 and 23 conducted by Tugan Sokhiev.

His relationship with the Dresden Staatskapelle dates back almost 10 years, including a step-in for Myung-Whun Chung in 2018 for a performance with violinist Vilde Frang for her debut.

Highlights of David’s 2022-23 season include his debut with the Orchestre National de Lyon alongside soloist Alexandre Tharaud, and return invitations to the Minnesota Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and Copenhagen Philharmonic. On the opera stage, David will conduct a new production of Strauss’ Arabella at Teatro Real, Madrid.

David Afkham debuts at Theater an der Wien conducting Dvořák’s ‘Rusalka’ 

Concert with the BSO at Tanglewood