Aiming for the highest musical standards was a founding tenet of the Salzburg Festival, which means that the greatest conductors and most important artists of their time have always worked in Salzburg. Herbert von Karajan, whose name graces this award, was one of them; Manfred Honeck, the chairman of the jury, is another. The three finalists who vie for the prestigious Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award at the Award Concert Weekend are among the most exciting conducting talents of the next gen­eration. Each will conduct their own concert with the Camerata Salzburg and will have the chance to convince both the high-powered jury and the Festival audience that they are a future force to be reckoned with.

The winner can look forward to the prize money of €15,000 and an invitation to return to the Salzburg Festival in 2026, when they will conduct the Award Winner’s Concert in the Felsenreitschule.

A glance at the history of the competition shows that the Young Conductors Award often presents the first opportunity to encounter the top conductors of tomorrow. Past winners include Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Maxime Pascal, who will again conduct a staged opera production this summer, while Lorenzo Viotti will be the first YCA winner to conduct one of the Vienna Philharmonic’s concerts at the Salzburg Festival.

An initiative of the Salzburg Festival in cooperation with the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute.

For further details and conditions of participation, please visit: www.salzburgfestival.at/en/yca