Afkham is the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, a position he has held since September 2019.
He has appeared with the Concertgebouworkest, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner Philharmoniker, Staatskapelle Berlin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, SWR Symphonieorchester, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de France, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
With regular appearances in North America, Afkham has previously led The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra in Tanglewood, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in New York.
Recent successes at the opera pit include performances of Richard Strauss’s ‘Arabella’ at the Semperoper Dresden and a new production of the work at the Teatro Real, Madrid. Afkham has also conducted productions of Engelbert Humperdinck’s ‘Hänsel & Gretel’ at the Oper Frankfurt, Richard Wagner’s ‘Der fliegende Holländer’ at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Alberto Ginastera’s ‘Bomarzo’ at Madrid’s Teatro Real.
Highlights of the 2024/25 include a return to the Semperoper Dresden to conduct a production of ‘Fidelio’, debuts with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Bruckner Orchester Linz with concerts at Brucknerhaus Linz and Musikverein Wien.
Born in Freiburg, Germany, Afkham began piano and violin lessons at an early age. He went on to study piano, music theory, and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, before continuing his studies at the Hochschule für Musik FRANZ LISZTWeimar. Afkham was the first recipient of the Bernard Haitink Fund for Young Talent and has assisted Maestro Haitink on several major projects. From 2009-2012 he was Assistant Conductor of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.
Afkham won first prize at the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London in 2008 and was the inaugural recipient of the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award in 2010.
