Aurel Dawidiuk appointed as associate conductor
The Concertgebouw Orchestra has a long tradition of talent development, with initiatives ranging from the orchestra academy to the biennial Ammodo Conducting Masterclass and Concertgebouworkest Young. With the Bernard Haitink Associate Conductorship, the orchestra is investing in the development of conductors of the future.
Following an international selection of candidates nominated by a panel of specialists, four young conductors auditioned live with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under the direction of its artistic partner Klaus Mäkelä. On the basis of these auditions, Aurel Dawidiuk was chosen as the Concertgebouw Orchestra’s very first associate conductor.
Dawidiuk will be collaborating on approximately half the concert programmes performed during the 2024–25 and the 2025–26 seasons. His duties as associate conductor will be varied, thus enabling him to forge artistic ties with the orchestra. Besides assisting leading conductors both in Amsterdam and on tour, he will work with orchestra musicians in ensemble formation and fulfil a role in the orchestra's talent development programme. In the latter half of the 2025–26 season, Dawidiuk will work with the orchestra for a week and conduct several subscription concerts.
'Bernard felt that he'd had tremendous luck in his own career as a young conductor, and wanted to create opportunities for his younger colleagues.'
- Patricia Haitink
Bernard Haitink
Former chief conductor Bernard Haitink (b. 1929, d. 2021) presided over countless masterclasses during his long career and would often invite young conductors to assist him. His widow, Patricia Haitink, says, ‘Bernard felt that he'd had tremendous luck in his own career as a young conductor, and wanted to create opportunities for his younger colleagues. This scheme enables a young conductor to have real, active engagement with a great orchestra, and with some of the very best conductors and soloists. It opens the possibility for a talented young artist to move to the next stage of their career.’
Aurel Dawidiuk
Born in Hanover, Aurel Dawidiuk is a remarkable talent who is quickly establishing a career for himself as a conductor, pianist and organist. He began his conducting studies in 2020 with Johannes Schlaefli at the Zurich University of the Arts, where he is currently studying with Christoph-Mathias Mueller. Dawidiuk was admitted to the German Music Council’s Conductors’ Forum for talented, young conductors in 2021. He has participated in masterclasses with Paavo Järvi, Jaap van Zweden, Joana Mallwitz and Pierre-André Valade, and has conducted ensembles including the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Thessaloniki City Symphony Orchestra and the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2023, he won the Neeme Järvi Prize at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival as well as a total of four prizes at the International Hans von Bülow Competition in Meiningen, including the first prize in the ‘conducting from the piano’ category and the audience prize.