Aziz Shokhakimov burst on to the music scene at the age of just 21 when he won the second place at the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg, under the auspices of the Bamberger Symphoniker. Since then, he has conducted distinguished orchestras such as SWR Sinfonieorchester, Elbphilharmonie Orchester (NDR Hamburg), WDR Sinfonieorchester, London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Toronto and Houston Symphonies as well as a previous season highlight – Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France during an outstanding step-in for Yuri Temirkanov.

Following several very successful concerts with Orchestra Philharmonique de Strasbourg since their first collaboration in 2014, Shokhakimov has been appointed the Music Director of the orchestra starting with season 2021/22.

Next to his symphonic career Shokhakimov is also active in opera. He has held the position of Kapellmeister at Deutsche Oper am Rhein since 2015 and has recently conducted a new, highly acclaimed production of The Queen of Spades. He has also been invited to conduct a new production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel directed by Barrie Kosky at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

Shokhakimov has an ongoing relationship with Salzburg Festival where, having been selected from more than 100 candidates, he won the prestigious Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award in August 2016. He returned to the Salzburg Festival in August 2017 for the prize-winner’s concert with RSO Wien and conducted the Opening Ceremony of Salzburg Festival with Patricia Kopatchinskaja in 2019.

Born in 1988 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Shokhakimov entered Uspensky Music School for Gifted Children at the age of 6, studying violin, viola and orchestral conducting (in the class of Professor Vladimir Neymer). At 13 he made his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1. During the following year he conducted his first opera, Carmen, at the National Opera of Uzbekistan. He was appointed Assistant conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan in 2001 and became its Principal Conductor in 2006.