Daniel Stabrawa joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as a first violinist in 1983. After a short time, and under Karajan's supportive guidance, he rose to the position of concertmaster. Since then, he has had the opportunity to perform as a soloist on the world's greatest stages with renowned conductors and orchestras.
Daniel Stabrawa was the first artist to introduce Karol Szymanowski's First Violin Concerto to the West with the Berlin Philharmonic. As a Pole, he considered himself an ambassador for his native music and represented it throughout the world: from the Berlin Philharmonic under Mariss Jansons to the Philharmonia Orchestra, and across Europe and Asia.
As a chamber musician, he was active as first violinist of the Philharmonia Quartet Berlin. The quartet has recorded complete cycles of works by Schumann, Brahms, and Beethoven and has also performed both of Szymanowski's quartets. The quartet has always been a welcome guest in the world's most important concert halls, and has been awarded the German Record Critics' Prize and the Echo Klassik Award twice.
As a conductor, Daniel Stabrawa was appointed chief conductor of the Polish chamber orchestra Capella Bydgostiensis (Bydgoszcz) for five years. They made numerous recordings together, including performances of the Romantic oboe concertos with soloist Albrecht Mayer. Daniel Stabrawa performed Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 4, and 5 as both conductor and soloist. In addition, Daniel Stabrawa leads various orchestras throughout Europe as concertmaster and conductor, and is currently the Artistic Director of the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin.
His chamber music partners include Yefim Bronfman, Murray Perahia, Emmanuel Ax, Rafal Blechacz, and Nigel Kennedy, with whom he recorded Vivaldi and Bach Double Concertos as a soloist (EMI). He has performed violin concertos by Prokofiev, Kurt Weill, Mozart, Szymanowski, Beethoven, Hubay, and Rudi Stephan under conductors such as Kurt Sanderling, Mariss Jansons, Ivan Fischer, Herbert Blomstedt, and the newly appointed chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Kirill Petrenko. Daniel Stabrawa, together with Simon Rattle, is introducing Szymanowski's Second Violin Concerto to the orchestra's repertoire. Daniel Stabrawa retired from the orchestra in 2021 but remains active as a violinist and conductor.
