Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award
There are two qualities, according to Herbert von Karajan, that a conductor cannot learn but must possess from the outset: ‘how intensely he feels the music he performs’ and ‘how strongly he communicates his vision’.
Karajan conducted 350 concert and opera performances at the Salzburg Festival and was a defining figure in the institution’s history. On the occasion of its centenary, the Salzburg Festival pays tribute to its longstanding artistic director and a dedicated supporter of young conducting talent with the reorganized Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award.
The jury for the tenth edition of this prestigious competition, which will now be held biennially, is chairedby Manfred Honeck, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In spring 2020, the jury members selected the semi-finalists from 250 participating artists. Due to the pandemic, the Award Concert Weekend will now take place in summer 2021, giving audience members the chance to experience the distinguished jury’s deliberations and the announcement of the winner. In addition to the prize money, the winner is engaged to conduct the Award Concert during the Salzburg Festival in summer 2022.
This accolade, previously known as the Young Conductors Award, has helped previous winners to launch international careers that frequently bring them back to the Salzburg Festival; in 2021, for example, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Maxime Pascal are returning to Salzburg. These outstanding young conductors thereby write new chapters in the history of the Festival, which at its most fundamental is a history of the artists.
The Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award is an initiative of the Salzburg Festival in cooperation with the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute.