The DSO is about to embark on a new and exciting chapter in its history: Kazuki Yamada will become the new Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the orchestra, starting with the 2026/2027 season. The internationally acclaimed Japanese conductor will assume artistic leadership of the DSO for an initial period of three years, succeeding Robin Ticciati, who took his leave in November 2024. Yamada will become the ninth Chief Conductor, following in the footsteps of distinguished predecessors such as Ferenc Fricsay, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Kent Nagano.
»I am filled with great joy and deep gratitude«, says Kazuki Yamada, »to be appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. 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.«
Kazuki Yamada has served as Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) since April 2023 and has held the position of Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo since 2016. In April 2024, he made his debut on the DSO’s rostrum with Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, and in September he impressed as a stand-in at its Musikfest concert. »Working with Kazuki Yamada will mark the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our orchestra« says Johannes Watzel, violinist and Chair of the DSO Orchestra Board. »His exceptional musicality and his ability to bring even the most complex works to life with clarity and precision impressed us from the very beginning. We look forward to our shared artistic journey with great anticipation.«
Born in 1979 in Kanagawa, Japan, Yamada maintains a strong connection to his homeland. He works regularly with orchestras in Japan, the USA and Europe. This season also sees his fourth consecutive appearance with the CBSO at the BBC Proms. A passionate advocate for the next generation of musicians, Yamada is a regular guest conductor at the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland and actively supports the CBSO’s education and development programs. He studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he discovered his deep affinity for Mozart and the Russian Romantic repertoire. He gained international recognition in 2009 when he won First Prize at the 51st Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors.
On 26 April, Kazuki Yamada can be heard for the first time as Chief Conductor Designate with the DSO in the Philharmonie, and he will officially take up his new post in September 2026. Incidentally, he doesn't have to move for this – he has already made Berlin a home for his family some years ago. Welcome to the DSO!
Biography
Kazuki Yamada has served as Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) since April 2023 and has held the position of Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo (OPMC) since 2016. In September 2026, he will assume the role of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO).
Born in 1979 in Kanagawa, Japan, Yamada maintains a strong connection to his homeland and brings a distinctly “Japanese sensibility” to classical music. He works regularly with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2025 he will embark on a second joint tour of Japan with the CBSO following their European tour in May.
Yamada is a highly sought-after guest conductor in the realms of symphonic, operatic, and choral music. He made a celebrated debut with the DSO in April 2024 and returned to open the 2024/2025 season, stepping in for the late Sir Andrew Davis. This season also sees his fourth consecutive appearance with the CBSO at the BBC Proms. Further debuts include performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker the Filarmonica della Scala and the Wiener Symphoniker. In the United States, he recently conducted the Cleveland Orchestra for the first time, following earlier engagements with the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony and the Boston Symphony Orchestras.
He also continues to appear regularly with ensembles such as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de France, and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. At the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, he conducted a double bill of Ravel’s ‘L’enfant et les sortilèges’ and ‘L’heure espagnole’ in March.
Yamada collaborates with renowned soloists including Emanuel Ax, Leif Ove Andsnes, Seong-Jin Cho, Isabelle Faust, Martin Helmchen, Nobuko Imai, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Alexandre Kantorow, Evgeny Kissin, Maria João Pires, Julian Prégardien, Baiba Skride, Fazıl Say, Arabella Steinbacher, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Krystian Zimerman, and Frank Peter Zimmermann.
A passionate advocate for the next generation of musicians, Yamada is a regular guest conductor at the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland and actively supports the CBSO’s education and development programs.
He studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he discovered his deep affinity for Mozart and the Russian Romantic repertoire. He gained international recognition in 2009 when he won First Prize at the 51st Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors. After spending most of his life in Japan, he now resides in Berlin.
As of: April 2025