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Herbert von Karajan

YOUNG CONDUCTORS AWARD

The Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award is open to conductors from all over the world who are over 21 and under 35 years of age.

Registration
Registering for the competition is only possible via the online form by 13 January 2025 at 11:59 pm. After the deadline, the jury will view the materials submitted and choose up to eight candidates. Applicants will be notified by the end of February 2025.

For further information or if you have any questions, please contact
yca@salzburgfestival.at

Participation in the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award is subject to the following terms and conditions:

Terms of Competition and Privacy Policy

  1. Participants may not be younger than 21 years of age or have not yet reached the age of 35 on the cut-off date. The date of birth has to be verified by uploading a copy of the ID card in the registration form. The cut-off date for the application phase 2024/2025 is 13.01.2025.
  2. Registration for the competition is only possible via the online form, which must be filled out completely and truthfully. The application must be accompanied by informative video material in which the applicant can be seen conducting an orchestra, preferably with various works or excerpts from works.
  3. The information / personal data and files transmitted in the registration form will be processed by the Salzburg Festival (hereinafter referred to as the “Festival”) for the administration of the competition and will be stored for documentation and archiving purposes beyond the duration of the competition. If you have any questions regarding data protection, please contact the Festival’s data protection officer at datenschutz@salzburgfestival.at.
  4. The applicant agrees to be personally available for any queries under the contact details given in the form. The Festival does not accept communication via third parties such as agencies.
  5. The Festival and the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award jury reserve the right to check the accuracy of the applicant’s details. The applicant authorises the Festival to obtain information about his/her activities from previous employers and clients and undertakes to send requested documents quickly on request. Should the applicant fail to comply with such a request from the Festival or the jury within a reasonable period of time, this may result in the applicant being excluded from the competition.
  6. The application videos must be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo and must remain uploaded there until at least 31.08.2025. The applicant is at liberty to decide whether they shall be shared publicly or privately. The Festival shall be entitled to download and save the videos from the platform.
  7. The competition comprises the following rounds: Up to eight candidates will be selected from the submitted applications and invited to the Rehearsal Day. At the end of the Rehearsal Day, three finalists will be chosen to take part in the Award Concert Weekend during the Salzburg Festival. Following the final concert of the Award Concert Weekend, the winner of the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award will be announced.
  8. The prize for the winner includes conducting a concert at the 2026 Salzburg Festival.
  9. The selection of the applicants to be invited to the next rounds of the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award is at the sole discretion of the jury, and it shall not be required to justify its decision. It is also entitled to reject applications without giving reasons. The jury’s decisions shall be final. In addition, the jury reserves the right to cut short works in the individual competition rounds or to listen only to excerpts.
  10. Travel to and from Rehearsal Day, Award Concert Weekend and Prize Winners Concert as well as accommodation for the selected candidates will be organised and paid for by the Festival.
  11. By submitting an application, the candidate confirms that he or she will be available on the dates of the individual competition rounds and, if selected by the jury, undertake to be present on all dates. Failure to be present shall lead to exclusion from the competition.
  12. All rounds of the competition will be held in Salzburg.
  13. The Festival does not guarantee that the entire jury will be present at each round of the competition.
  14. For Rehearsal Day, the Festival will specify one compulsory piece and several electives. The candidates shall be bound by these specifications. The programme for the concert at the Award Concert Weekend shall be drawn up in consultation with the Festival. The Festival reserves the right to reject any proposed works or programmes without giving reasons.
  15. The Festival will provide the required sheet music upon request.
  16. The Rehearsal Day is not open to the public, but the Award Concert Weekend is open to the public and forms part of the Salzburg Festival programme. The Festival alone shall decide on the admission of audiences.
  17. The Festival has the sole right to make photographic, audio and video recordings during the competition and at the prize-winner’s concert, or to grant permission to do so. The participants grant the Festival the exclusive and complete right to use and exploit these recordings without separate remuneration.
  18. In addition, the applicants agree in particular to an audio or audiovisual recording of the competition and the prize-winner’s concert and transfer the rights for the entire or partial use to the Festival by sending the application or at the latest when the recording is created.
    The transfer of the rights includes the copyrights and neighbouring rights for all types of use and forms of transmission.
    The rights are transferred for the worldwide exploitation of the production in all media, without limits in terms of material, time or content.
    The applicant guarantees the existence of the rights transferred in connection with an exploitation in all audio/audiovisual media and confirms that such is not in conflict with any third-party claims or rights, in particular no work or label exclusive rights.
    The Festival shall be entitled to transfer the rights to third parties, in particular public and private broadcasters, television stations, production companies such as the Salzburg Festival media partner Unitel, and cooperation partners such as the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute.
  1. The official languages of the competition are German and English, and the participants must be able to speak at least one of these two languages at a basic level.
  2. By submitting their applications, applicants confirm their knowledge and understanding of these competition conditions.
  3. Recourse to legal action is excluded.
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