ALBERTO ACUÑA — FLUTIST Biography (English) Spanish flutist Alberto Acuña is Principal Flute of the Staatskapelle Weimar, a position he has held since 2023. In the 2026/27 season he was Principal Flute of the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln. Born in Seville, Spain, Alberto began studying the flute at the age of eight with Wendela Claire van Swol and Manuel Jesús Lucas. He later completed his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, where he studied with Professor Jacques Zoon. A former member of the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, he worked closely with Emmanuel Pahud, Mathieu Dufour, Michael Hasel, Jelka Weber and Egor Egorkin, while performing regularly with the orchestra. Alberto has received prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Carl Nielsen International Competition, the Maxence Larrieu International Flute Competition, the Aurèle Nicolet International Flute Competition and the Cluj International Music Competition. His distinctions also include prizes at the Concours National de Musique de Riddes, the Premio Andalucía Flauta and the Migros Culture Percentage Competition. He has performed with leading orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Mito Chamber Orchestra, the Saito Kinen Orchestra, the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra and the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra. Throughout his orchestral career, he has worked under conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Andris Nelsons, Paavo Järvi, Christian Thielemann, Marin Alsop, Semyon Bychkov, Tugan Sokhiev, Daniele Gatti and Daniel Harding. As a soloist, Alberto has appeared with the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, the Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. Since 2021, he has served as a jury member at the Cluj International Music Competition. Alongside his performing career, he is deeply committed to teaching and to supporting the next generation of flutists. — SHORT BIOGRAPHY (70 words) Spanish flutist Alberto Acuña is Principal Flute of the Staatskapelle Weimar. Born in Seville, he studied with Jacques Zoon at the Haute École de Musique de Genève and was a member of the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker. A prizewinner at the Carl Nielsen, Maxence Larrieu and Aurèle Nicolet international competitions, he has appeared as a soloist with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, the Odense Symphony Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. — www.albertoacuna.com · albertoflute96@gmail.com