David Björkman

David Björkman is one of the latest in a distinguished line of Nordic musicians who have moved from the concertmaster's chair to the conductor's desk. He was a prize winner at the 2008 Prokofiev International Conducting Competition in Saint Petersburg and received the 2004 Swedish Conducting Award.

Björkman has profiled himself as a dedicated opera conductor with almost 40 productions to his credit, of which 13 are premieres by, among others, Sven-David Sandström and Daniel Nelson.
In 2016-20 he was the chief conductor and artistic director of the Lifeguard's Dragon Music Corps in Stockholm. During his time with them, he made several disc recordings of, among other things, works for symphonic brass, Swedish new art music, as well as piano concertos by Hallberg and Sivelöv.

In the 2025/26 season, David returns to Wermland Opera and conducts the premiere of Mats Larsson Gothe's new opera, as well as to performances at the Royal Swedish Opera and with the Nordic Chamber Orchestra. The season also includes guest appearances in Finland and Denmark.

David has made recordings for Naxos, Daphne, Orchid and Swedish Society with ensembles such as Odense Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Opera Orchestra and Sveriges Radio Symphony Orchestra.

David was born in Skellefteå in 1973 and studied violin at Gothenburg University. As a violinist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and later as concertmaster in NorrlandsOperan, he collaborated with many leading conductors. After deciding to start conducting in 1999, David studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Jorma Panula and later took private lessons with Esa-Pekka Salonen and Sixten Ehrling in New York.