Striving for the highest musical standards was a founding tenet of the Salzburg Festival, which means that the greatest conductors and most important artists of each generation have always been drawn to Salzburg. Herbert von Karajan, whose name graces this award, was one of them; Manfred Honeck, the chairman of the jury, is another.

The conductors who put themselves forward for the Salzburg Festival’s prestigious Young Conductors Award are among the most exciting talents of their generation. In 2025, German conductor Christian Blex emerged from a field of more than 290 contenders to claim the prestigious award. Along with the accolade comes an invitation to lead an Award Winner’s Concert with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Christian Blex’s programme features a work by Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony, alongside songs by Richard Strauss with Hanna-Elisabeth Müller as soloist.

A glance at the history of the competition shows that the Young Conductors Award offers an exciting opportunity to encounter the top conductors of tomorrow. Past winners regularly return to the Salzburg Festival; in 2026, for example, Maxime Pascal will be back to conduct another staged opera production.

An initiative of the Salzburg Festival in co-operation with the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute.

Applications for the next edition of the competition should open in autumn 2026:

www.salzburgfestival.at/en/yca