Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Appoints New Chief Conductor and Artistic Director

Kazuki Yamada will step into the role at the opening of the 2026/27 season

Japanese conductor Kazuki Yamada will succeed Robin Ticciati as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO). He will begin his time in the post at the opening of the 2026/27 season.

Founded in 1946 as the RIAS Symphony Orchestra, the DSO is now one of the flagship ensembles of the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre Berlin (ROC) — and its previous chief conductors have included Ferenc Fricsay, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Kent Nagano.

Kazuki Yamada is presently Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and recently extended his contract until the close of the 2028/29 season.

During his tenure in Birmingham, Yamada has led a large number of concerts, including 20 in the present season. He has also appeared in a number of prominent outreach performances, including the CBSO in the City concerts — which presented music in unconventional venues such as on trams.

Yamada studied music at Tokyo University of the Arts, and he received first prize in the 51st International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors in 2009. He was mentored by Seiji Ozawa and appears regularly in Japan with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

Alongside his post in Birmingham, Yamada is Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. He has brought the two ensembles together on multiple occasions, having conducted collaborative performances with the CBSO Chorus of Mendelssohn’s Elijah in both cities in 2019 and of Orff’s Carmina Burana in 2023.

"I am filled with great joy and deep gratitude to be appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin," Yamada said. "For a Japanese conductor to take on a leading musical role in Berlin is still a rarity – and personally very meaningful to me."

"I had the pleasure of working with the orchestra in April and September of last year and felt a truly special chemistry. I now look forward to our shared journey with great anticipation. I am confident that we will create something truly remarkable."

"With Kazuki Yamada, we are welcoming one of the most sought-after conductors on the international stage," said Anselm Rose, Managing Director of ROC. "With his artistic vision and abilities, he is a perfect fit for the DSO and for Berlin."