Not bad. Dallas Symphony music director Jaap Van Zweden will be making his debut conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in May in four concerts in Berlin and Amsterdam.  Van Zweden will be conducting Bartok and Brahms.

Here’s the release:

DALLAS SYMPHONY MUSIC DIRECTOR JAAP VAN ZWEDEN TO GUEST CONDUCT BERLIN PHILHARMONIC

Invited to lead one of the world’s most-celebrated orchestras in four concerts May 8-12, 2013 in Berlin and Amsterdam

Dallas, TX (May 3, 2013) – The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) announces that its music director, Jaap van Zweden, has been invited to make his conducting debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in four concerts May 8-12, 2013 in Berlin and Amsterdam.

Maestro van Zweden’s debut performances with the Berlin Philharmonic will take place on May 8, 9 and 10 at the Philharmonie in Berlin and on May 12 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Maestro van Zweden steps in for guest conductor Mariss Jansons, who has been advised by his doctors to withdraw from these performances.

Maestro van Zweden will conduct performances of Concerto for Orchestra by Bela Bartók and the First Symphony of Johannes Brahms.

“I look forward to introducing myself to the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic, and to making wonderful music together,” says Maestro van Zweden. “I look forward to leading one of the world’s great orchestras in two of the world’s iconic concert halls. And to conduct this fine orchestra in my hometown of Amsterdam will for me be truly special.”

Van Zweden’s performance in Amsterdam with the Berlin Philharmonic will mark his second high-profile concert in as many months at the Concertgebouw, where for 16 years he served as Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His performance there March 12 conducting the Dallas Symphony as part of its two-week European tour was hailed as “a triumphant homecoming” (Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News), a concert that “thrilled the audience and shook the Concertgebouw to its foundations” (Ferdi de Lange, De Standaard/Belgium).

“This debut with the Berlin Philharmonic is a major step in Maestro van Zweden’s professional journey and reaffirms he is one of today’s most sought-after conductors,” said Dallas Symphony President and CEO Jonathan Martin. “This is a positive reflection on the Dallas Symphony and the extraordinary music making partnership between van Zweden and the DSO.”

The Berlin Philharmonic is consistently named as one of the world’s top orchestras, with an unmatched legacy of benchmark recordings and an unparalleled roster of principal conductors, including Hans von Bülow, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and presently Simon Rattle.

Maestro van Zweden, who has become a much sought-after conductor internationally over the past 15 years, is music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (since 2008) and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (from 2012). Previously, he was chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra in Enschede (1996 to 2000), the Residentie Orkest in The Hague (2000 to 2005) and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (2008 to 2011). Jaap van Zweden is honorary chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, which he led from 2005 to 2011. He was named Musical America 2012 Conductor of the Year for his critically acclaimed work with the Dallas Symphony as well as for his guest conducting with some of the nation’s most esteemed orchestras.