Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award

From the application to the award ceremony
Repertoire for the Rehearsal Day
Contact
Jury
Laureates

The Young Conductors Award

On the trail of Herbert von Karajan

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 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 the 2026 Salzburg Festival, where 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, Maxime Pascal or Lorenzo Viotti, who return regularly to the festival und thus write new chapters in its history.

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

The application deadline for the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award 2025 expired on 13 January 2025.

YCA 2025 applications are currently being evaluated, and all applicants will receive a response by the end of February 2025.

The new application process for the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award 2027 will begin in October 2026, at which time all information will be made available on this website. We will also inform you through our social media channels well in advance.

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

Rehearsal Day

The Rehearsal Day, which is not open to the public, takes place on 5 April 2025 in Salzburg. On this day, the eight candidates will work with the Mozarteum Orchestra and the œnm. œsterreichisches ensemble fuer neue musik on three compositions each, in the presence of the jury. In addition to a mandatory piece, there will be works for the candidates to choose from.
At the end of the Rehearsal Day, the jury will announce the three candidates who are invited to the Award Concert Weekend.

YCA Award Concert Weekend

The three finalists will conduct a one-hour concert each as part of the 2025 Salzburg Festival on 1, 2 and 3 August at the Main Auditorium of the Mozarteum Foundation, which will also involve participants in the Young Singers Project. The concert programmes will be chosen jointly by the Salzburg Festival and the candidates, one focus being on contemporary compositions. Rehearsals for the concerts presumably begin on 28 July 2025.
In a public award ceremony after the last concert, the jury will announce the winner of the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award, who receives a cash prize of 15,000 €.

YCA Award Winner’s Concert

In addition to the prize money, the winner of the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award will have the opportunity to conduct a concert with an international orchestra and a young, up-and-coming soloist as part of the 2026 Salzburg Festival. The programme selection is the responsibility of the prizewinner in consultation with the Salzburg Festival.
The prizewinner’s concert will be recorded and published as a CD in the edition “Salzburger Festspieldokumente”.

Repertoire for the Rehearsal Day

Mandatory Piece

Anton Webern: Symphony op. 21
Ensemble: oenm. oesterreichisches ensemble fuer neue musik
Each candidate will have a 15-minute timeslot with the ensemble.

Elective Pieces
You have to select one piece from categories a) and b) each.

a) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Ouverture to the opera Die Zauberflöte K. 620 //
Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 93, D major (Hob. I:93) – 1st movement

b) Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1, op. 21, C major– 1st movement //
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1, op. 21, C major – 4th movement //
Franz Schubert: Symphony No.3, D. 200, D major – 1st movement

Orchestra: Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg
Each candidate will have a 25-minute timeslot with the orchestra (for both pieces).
Scores will be made available to the selected candidates upon request.