Stepan Armasar will become the new Associate Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam (RCO). The Moldovan conductor will take up the post for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 seasons, the orchestra announced on Tuesday. Born in 2000, he succeeds the German conductor Aurel Dawidiuk.

Stepan Armasar

Armasar is expected to contribute to approximately half of the concert programs. He will support Klaus Mäkelä, who will take up the position of chief conductor in 2027, and other renowned conductors both in Amsterdam and on tour. He will also collaborate with orchestral musicians on ensemble development and play a role in the RCO's talent development program. At the end of his second season, Armasar will spend a week working with the orchestra and conducting several subscription concerts.

Armasar has been studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory since 2019, initially conducting with Professor Peter Gribanov and later at the Faculty of Opera and Symphony Conducting. In 2025, as the youngest participant in the Arturo Toscanini International Conducting Competition in Parma, Italy, he won both first prize and the audience prize.

The position of Associate Conductor at the Concertgebouw Orchestra was made possible by a donation from the family of the former chief conductor Bernard Haitink (1929-2021).

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