Career Assistance Awards

2008-2022

Kazem Abdullah
Christopher Allen
Yaniv Attar
Ankush Kumar Bahl
Daniel Black
Karina Canellakis
Gene Chang
Tiffany Chang
Holly Choe
Yuga Cohler
Maurice Cohn
Conner Gray Covington
Roderick Cox
Andrew Crust
Yaniv Dinur
Nathaniel Efthimiou
James Feddeck
Kevin Fitzgerald
Taichi Fukumura
Chelsea Gallo
Joshua Gersen
Lina Gonzalez Granados
Keitaro Harada
Nicolas Hersh
Jonathon Heyward
Christopher Hill
Joshua Hong
Sarah Jobin
Jacob Joyce
Robert Kahn
Roberto Kalb
Roger Kalia
Matthew Kasper
Farkhad Khudyev
Stilian Kirov
Vladimir Kulenovic
Kelly Kuo
Shizuo Z. Kuwahara
Francesco Lecce-Chong
Earl Lee
Christopher James Lees
Louis Lohraseb
François López-Ferrer
Benjamin Manis
Michelle Merrill
Lee Mills
Stephen Mulligan
Gemma New
Sean Newhouse
Vinay Parameswaran
Sameer Patel
Tristan Rais-Sherman
Michael Repper
Stephanie Rhodes Russell
Carlos César Rodríguez
Stefano Sarzani
Case Scaglione
Ward Stare
Matthew Straw
William Walker
Kensho Watanabe
Joshua Weilerstein
Dean Whiteside
Lidiya Yankovskaya
Joseph Young

2022 Awardees

Tiffany Chang

Praised for her exceptional artistry, formidable versatility, and unshakeable integrity, Taiwanese-American conductor Tiffany Chang helps musicians feel valued, seen, and fulfilled. Read more…

Maurice Cohn

Assistant Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and regular guest conductor with the Chicago-based contemporary ensemble Zafa Collective. Read more…

Nathaniel Efthimiou

Founding Music Director of Orchestra Contempo, Assistant Conductor of Boston Civic Symphony, and Cover Conductor of Rhode Island Philharmonic. Read more…

Kevin Fitzgerald

Assistant Conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra. Read more…

Taichi Fukumura

Founding Music Director of the Accompanietta Orchestra, Director of Orchestras at Merit School of Music, and Cover Conductor for the Chicago Philharmonic. Read more…

Chelsea Gallo

Assistant Conductor of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Loyola Symphony Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor of Opera Orlando. Read more…

Keitaro Harada

Music and Artistic Director of the Savannah Philharmonic and Associate Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

Robert S. Kahn

Cover conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra on several subscription programs (2021-22 season), and assistant to Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Rotterdam Philharmonic on their European Tour. Read more…

Farkhad Khudyev

Music Director of the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Orchestral Institute at the Hidden Valley Institute of the Arts in Carmel, California. Read more…

Louis Lohraseb

Engagements in the 2021-2022 season include debuts with the Komische Oper Berlin and with Semperoper Dresden, as well as a return to Los Angeles Opera as assistant conductor to music director James Conlon. Read more…

François López-Ferrer

Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony and 2021-22 Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Read more…

Benjamin Manis

Resident Conductor of the Houston Grand Opera and Associate Conductor of the Utah Symphony (beginning September 2022). Read more…

Stephen Mulligan

Former Associate Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and 2018-19 Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Read more…

Tristan Rais-Sherman

Appointed Conducting Fellow of The Philadelphia Orchestra for the 2022-23 season. Read more…

Michael Repper

Music Director of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, New York Youth Symphony, Northern Neck Orchestra of Virginia, and the Principal Conductor of Sinfonía por el Perú. Read more…

Matthew Straw

Currently holds the Evan Whallon Conducting Fellowship at the Eastman School of Music where he serves as assistant conductor of the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

William Garfield Walker

Chief Conductor and founder of the Nova Orchester Wien(NOW!), Vienna’s newest professional orchestra. Read more…

Dean Whiteside

Former New World Symphony Conducting Fellow. Founder and director of the Nashville Sinfonietta and winner of the 2018 American Prize in Conducting. Read more…

2021 Awardees

Nathaniel Efthimiou
Kevin Fitzgerald
Taichi Fukumura
Lina Gonzalez-Granados
Keitaro Harada
Jonathon Heyward
Roberto Kalb
Roger Kalia
Earl Lee
Lee Mills
Vinay Parameswaran
Michael Repper
Stefano Sarzani
Kensho Watanabe
Lidiya Yankovskaya

Lina Gonzalez-Granados

Conducting Fellow with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Seattle Symphony; Recipient of the 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence. Read more…

Jonathon Heyward

Chief Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie and former Assistant Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra. Read more…

Roberto Kalb

Former resident conductor and head of music at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and cover/assistant conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

Roger Kalia

Music Director, Evansville Symphony Orchestra and Symphony NH; Music Director and co-founder, Lake George Music Festival. Read more…

Earl Lee

Winner of the 2022 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. Read more…

Lee Mills

Associate Conductor or the Seattle Symphony and former Resident Conductor of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

Vinay Parameswaran

Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. Read more…

Stefano Sarzani

International guest conductor. Musical staff, Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2018. Read more…

Kensho Watanabe

International guest conductor. Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra from 2016 to 2019 Read more…

Lidiya Yankovskaya

Founder and Artistic Director of the Refugee Orchestra Project; Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater. Read more…

2020 Awardees

Tiffany Chang
Holly Choe
Maurice Cohn
Conner Gray Covington
Andrew Crust
Kevin Fitzgerald
Lina Gonzalez Granados
Keitaro Harada
Jonathon Heyward
Joshua Hong
Jacob Joyce
Roger Kalia
Matthew Kasper
Lee Mills
Stephen Mulligan
Gemma New
Michael Repper
Stefano Sarzani
Kensho Watanabe

Holly Choe

Music Director, Orchesterverein Wiedikon, Music Director, University of St. Gallen Alumni Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

Conner Gray Covington

Associate Conductor, Utah Symphony and Principal Conductor, Deer Valley Music Festival. Read more…

Andrew Crust

Associate Conductor, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

Joshua Hong

Music Director, Campanile Orchestra. Read more…

Jacob Joyce

Associate Conductor, Indianapolis Symphony. Read more…

Matthew Kasper

Resident Conductor, The Phoenix Symphony and Artistic Director, Phoenix Youth Symphony. Read more…

Gemma New

Winner of the 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. Read more…

2019 Awardees

Conner Gray Covington
Aram Demirjian
Joshua Hong
Stilian Kirov
Benjamin Manis
Lee Mills
Gemma New
Stephanie Rhodes Russell

Stilian Kirov
First Prize Winner of the “Debut Berlin” Concert Competition, Stilian Kirov made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonic in 2017. The same year he began his tenure as Music Director of the Illinois Philharmonic and also continues his music directorship with the Bakersfield Symphony in California. Read more…

Stephanie Rhodes Russell

International guest conductor. Musical staff, Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2018. Read more…

2018 Awardees

Daniel Black
Roger Kalia
Stilian Kirov
Farkhad Khudyev
Stephen Mulligan
Sameer Patel
Lidiya Yankovskaya
Stefano Sarzani

Daniel Black

AssociateConductor of the Florida Orchestra, 2019-20 season. Read more…

Sameer Patel

Associate Conductor of the Sun Valley Music Festival and former Associate Conductor of the San Diego Symphony. Read more…

2017 Awardees

Roderick Cox
Conner Gray Covington
Aram Demirjian
Roger Kalia
Stilian Kirov
Lee Mills
Gemma New
Sameer Patel

Roderick Cox

Winner of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. Read more…

2016 Awardees

Christopher Allen
Ankush Kumar Bahl
Daniel Black
Gene Chang
Yaniv Dinur
Joshua Gersen
Keitaro Harada
Stilian Kirov
Michelle Merrill
Lee Mills
Sameer Patel
Stefano Sarzani

Christopher Allen

Winner of the 2017 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. Read more…

Ankush Kumar Bahl

Music Director Designate of the Omaha Symphony, summer of 2021. Read more…

Gene Chang

Assistant and Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 2015 to 2019. Read more…

Yaniv Dinur

Winner of the 2019 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. Read more…

Joshua Gersen

Former Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Read more…

Michelle Merrill

Music Director of the Coastal Symphony of Georgia and former Associate Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

2015 Awardees

Kazem Abdullah
Ankush Kumar Bahl
Daniel Black
Karina Canellakis
Yuga Cohler
Joshua Gersen
Keitaro Harada
Nicolas Hersh
Joseph Young

Kazem Abdullah

Music and Artistic Director of the City of Aachen, Germany from 2012 to 2017. Read more…

Karina Canellakis

Winner of the 2016 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. Read more…

Yuga Cohler

Music director of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

Nicolas Hersh

Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Read more…

Joseph Young

Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony, Artistic Director of Ensembles for the Peabody Conservatory, and Resident Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra–USA at Carnegie Hall. Read more…