During the Award Concert Weekend 2017, the 25-year-old Kerem Hasan from Great Britain convinced the international jury chaired by Dennis Russell Davies in a concert with the soloist Anne-Fleur Werner and the Camerata Salzburg at the Mozarteum Foundation.
Paul Bulcke, Kerem Hasan, Dennis Russell Davies and Markus Hinterhäuser, photo SF/Doris Wild & Team
“After an interesting discussion among the jury, the winner has now been chosen. Three highly talented young conductors participated in the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award, performing with a wonderful orchestra, the Camerata Salzburg. As every year, we sought to identify a young talent who is ready for an international career. We discovered this talent in Kerem Hasan. He has the necessary self-confidence, he knows what he wants and he has the talent required – in other words, the best prerequisites for an international career”, said Jury Chairman Dennis Russell Davies, announcing the 2017 winner.
Conductors Nuno Filipe Coelho Silva, Marie Jacquot and Kerem Hasan
“It is such an honour to be in this competition with two phenomenal colleagues. For me it is the first time at the Salzburg Festival and I am very happy today. I am looking forward to come back and direct the concert in 2018. I thank the jury and the orchestra Camerata Salzburg from the bottom of my heart“, this year’s winner, Kerem Hasan said.
Conductor Kerem Hasan
The „Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award“ was presented for the eighth time. There were 67 applicants in total. The prize carries a value of € 15,000 and is presented annually to a young conductor under the age of 35. Furthermore, the winner will conduct a Festival concert at the Felsenreitschule in August 2018.
The careers of the prize-winners of the past years, Aziz Shokhakimov (2016), Lorenzo Viotti (2015), Maxime Pascal (2014), Ben Gernon (2013), Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (2012), Ainārs Rubikis (2011) and David Afkham (2010) demonstrate the international relevance of this award.
Conductor Marie Jacquot
Nestlé’s Chairman of the Board, Paul Bulcke, noted: “In its eighth year, the ‘Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award’, which proudly helps support the career of young conductors, has again highlighted young talent as part of the Salzburg Festival. Congratulations to Kerem Hasan, the 2017 award winner, for his outstanding performance. We wish all participants great success in their future careers.”
Markus Hinterhäuser, photo SF/Michael Rausch-Schott
The Artistic Director of the Salzburg Festival, Markus Hinterhäuser, is convinced that “the ‘Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award’ demonstrates once again how essential it is to give young talents the opportunity to present their abilities as part of the Salzburg Festival. Once again, the entire Award Concert Weekend was characterized by the outstanding musicality of the three candidates.”
Conductor Nuno Filipe Coelho Silva
“The ‘Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award’, is one of the most important awards of its kind in the world, helping young conductors launch their international careers. It is wonderful to see how the winners so far have made their way in the business. And I am absolutely convinced that Kerem Hasan will also use the Festival as a launch-pad,” Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival, added.
Helga Rabl-Stadler, photo SF/Doris Wild & Team
Biography of conductor Kerem Hasan
Kerem Hasan
Kerem Hasan (born January 1992) – Great Britain
Young British conductor Kerem Hasan, born in London in 1992, studied piano and conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and at the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” Weimar.
He is currently a student at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste with Johannes Schlaefli.
As a finalist of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition 2016, Hasan conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in concert at the Barbican Centre, returning in March 2017 for a further collaboration. Since then he has been appointed Associate Conductor of the Welsh National Opera.
Recent engagements include performances with the Oviedo Filarmonía, the Meininger Hofkapelle and the Musikkollegium Winterthur and invitations to assist Vladimir Jurowski at the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Bernard Haitink with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
He made his debut with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and has conducted the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Flemish Philharmonic and Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Recent master classes include those with Bernard Haitink, David Zinman and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Kerem Hasan joined the prestigious Dirigentenforum in 2016. He is the grateful recipient of scholarships from the Solti Foundation and Help Musicians UK. In summer 2016, Hasan attended the Conducting Academy of the Aspen Music Festival, where he studied with Robert Spano. He was subsequently awarded the Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize and will return to Aspen as a Conducting Fellow in 2017.
(After Press materials)
Marijan Zlobec