Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Kazuki Yamada as chief conductor

The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) has announced the appointment of Kazuki Yamada as its new chief conductor and artistic director. Effective from the start of the 2026-27 season of, Yamada will take the helm of the orchestra for an initial period of three years, succeeding Robin Ticciati, who held the role from 2017 to 24.

As the eighth chief conductor and artistic director in the DSO’s history Yamada joins a legacy of conductors including Ferenc Fricsay, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Kent Nagano. Yamada, who recently won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Conductor award, will balance his new role with his current responsibilities as music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) and artistic and music director of Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo (OPMC).

Yamada said: ‘I am filled with great joy and deep gratitude 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.’

The DSO is one of the four top ensembles of the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre gGmbH Berlin (ROC) which is jointly funded by Deutschlandradio, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Berlin and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. Kazuki Yamada will join an artistic leadership team including Christian Beuke, who will take office as director of the DSO in September 2025 working alongside, ROC managing director Anselm Rose.