Solti Foundation U.S. Benefit and 23rd Anniversary Celebration
The Solti Foundation U.S. held its annual ‘Solti Night’ benefit dinner on October 18 at Chicago's Casino Club in honor of the 2023 Solti Fellow and Career Assistance Awardees.
Since its foundation in 2000, the Solti Foundation U.S. has awarded grants totaling more than $1,500,000 to young American conductors, age limit of 38, and has established a unique and successful Opera Residency Program. In 2023, the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, with a monetary prize of $30,000, was presented to Keitaro Harada, the largest grant currently given to young American conductors. Maestro Harada is the Music and Artistic Director of the Savannah Philharmonic and Associate Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Further, the Foundation this year gave 22 exceedingly talented young conductors Career Assistance Awards. Among this group who were able to attend in person were Elias Brown, Austin Chanu, John Devlin, Nathaniel Efthimiou, Gerald Karni, Nicholas Koo, Jacob Niemann, Jacob Schnitzer, William Walker, and Alyssa Wang. Dean Whiteside, a Foundation 2022 Career Assistance Awardee currently serving a 2023 Solti Foundation U.S. opera residency at Lyric Opera, delivered a fascinating and poignant account of his work.
The evening began with a cocktail reception followed by Chair, Penny Van Horn's Foundation comments, naming of award recipients, and culminating – per tradition – with an exciting musical interlude. This year, the concert program featured the first movement of Gabriel Fauré’s Sonata for Violin and Piano performed by violinist Danny Yehun Jin, in collaboration with pianist Marta Aznavoorian. Jin was appointed Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2023. Aznavoorian is a member of the celebrated Lincoln Trio, on faculty at DePaul University, and Artist-in-Residence at the Music Institute of Chicago.
Guests entered the Casino’s landmark dining area viewing tables displaying floral centerpieces of beautiful peach roses, surrounded by autumnal blooms and eucalyptus. The dinner menu included a colorful salad of seasonal greens with poached seckel pear, a beef tenderloin entree, and a warm apple strudel dessert with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. Approximately 100 guests attended, with funds raised for the 2024 grants exceeding $100,000.
The Solti Foundation U.S. is the foremost organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to helping young conductors. Sir Georg was conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1959-1991 and Laureate Conductor until 1997.
