German conductor David Niemann is establishing himself as one of the most gifted conductors of his generation. Second prize winner of the 2015 Malko Conducting Competition, in February 2015 he was appointed Assistant Conductor at the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, where he worked alongside chief conductor Michael Schønwandt for the following three seasons. He is developing a broad mainstream repertoire and is equally a persuasive advocate of twentieth-century and contemporary repertoire.

Highlights of the 2023/24 season will include returning to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to conduct the finals of the Scottish International Piano Competition, a full staging of the Mozart Requiem at Malmo Opera, with dancers from the Skanes Dansteater and choreography by choreography by Örjan Andersson, a revival of Elena Kats-Chernin’s Der herzlose Riese with Luxembourg Philharmonic and a regional tour with Orchestre de Picardie. The season will also see debuts with Filharmonica Banatul Timisoara and Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, as well as a return to Kammerakademie Potsdam.

Recent highlights have included successful debuts with Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Aalborg Symfoniorkester, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National de Belgique and Ensemble Modern (Hamburg Elbphilharmonie); the world premiere of world premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin’s new opera Der herzlose Riese with Luxembourg Philharmonic; a special interdisciplinary project with Junge Deutsche Philharmonie featuring new commissions with the most renowned artists of the German-speaking poetry slam scene; Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw, paired with Beethoven’s Choral Symphony, to open the Barcelona concert season of the Valles Symphony in the iconic Palau de la Musica. Engagements have also included a series of projects with Qatar Philharmonic, a number of visits to Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Luxembourg Philharmonic; many main season and regional concerts with the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier and concerts with Opéra National de Lorraine and Orchestre Lyrique Région Avignon Provence.

Earlier seasons featured Residentie Orkest, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre National de Lille, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester and Hamburger Symphoniker. His many projects for Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier included notable staged productions of Schumann’s Manfred, a double bill of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges and Szymon Laks’ L’Hirondelle inattendue and La Boîte à joujoux – Debussy’s ballet for children. While in Montpellier he conducted many orchestral programmes featuring core symphonic repertoire such as Dvorak Symphony No. 9, Brahms, Mozart and Beethoven.

In 2013 he assisted Emmanuel Krivine in a production of Schumann’s Manfred at the Opéra Comique (Paris). While still a student he conducted Così fan tutte and Die Fledermaus at the Academy of Music, Leipzig, and Christian Jost’s The Arabian Night at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.

Initially a passionate violinist, David commenced his conducting studies in 2007 as a pre-student at the Folkwang University of his hometown of Essen with David de Villiers and continued his studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Leif Segerstam, at the Dutch National Masters of Conducting programme with Ed Spanjaard and Jac van Steen, in addition to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Ulrich Windfuhr and holds a Master’s degree from those last two institutions.