The name has been buzzing through the rumor mill for a long time, now it is finally official: Berlin gets its first Japanese chief conductor-Kazuki Yamada will be artistic director of the German Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 2026/27 season. The 46-year-old Maestro will be the successor to the British Robin Ticciati, who had surprisingly withdrawn from the post after six highly successful years after six highly successful years.
The career points steeply up
Kazuki Yamada’s career is currently pointing steeply, in mid -June he will debut the Berlin Philharmonic. In January it became known that his contract with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra will be extended by the summer of 2029. He has also been chief conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo since 2016.
© Gary Manhine
The first contact between the DSO and Kazuki Yamada occurred in April 2024, last September the orchestra hired him again: As a siege for the late Sir Andrew Davis, he conducted the concert of the German Symphony Orchestra as part of the “Musikfest Berlin”.
The chemistry between him and the ensemble was right immediately. Nevertheless, the Japanese initially got committed to Berlin for only three years. He may want to keep all promotion options open internationally. Because as good as the DSO is – for all previous chief conductors, it was a stopover on the career.
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Enthusiasm for Mozart and Russian romance
Christian Beuke, who will replace Thomas Schmidt-Ott as an orchestral director from September, still spread optimism when announced: “Kazuki Yamada is a conductor who knows how to captivate from classical to contemporary repertoire and has already proven in Birmingham with numerous outreach and education projects that he has inspired a wide audience can. “
Orchestra board Johannes Watzel added: “Kazuki Yamada’s extraordinary musicality and his ability to bring even complex works to life with ease and precision, impressed us from the first encounter. We are looking forward to the joint artistic journey with great anticipation.”
Yamada studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts and won the famous conductor competition from Besançon in 2009. He focuses on artistic priorities in Mozart and in the Russian romantic repertoire. Kazuki Yamada has been living privately in Berlin for several years.