The Solti Foundation U.S.

03/04/2026

Congratulations to Taichi Fukumura. He joins the roster of KD Schmid for General Management!

14/01/2026

Congratulations Taichi!

“Joel Thompson’s ‘An Act of Resistance’ was one of the evening’s quiet shocks. Rhythmically direct and slightly theatrical, the piece gave the percussion — xylophone, snare, tom-toms — a central role both as timekeepers and agents of resistance.
…
Every section was busy, but percussionists again played an outsized role, contributing fields of color and driving the momentum. Fukumura’s reading was taut and exhilarating.
…

In his first year as assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, Taichi Fukumura proved fully equal to the demands of this sprawling program. He guided orchestra, chorus, and soloists with calm authority and clear musical intention.”

By the end of the January 11 program, the crowd was "standing and singing along in confident unison."

12/06/2025

Meet the 2025 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award Recipients

Jacob Niemann recently completed a three-year residency as the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music; where he studied under Yannick Nézet-Séguin and led the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Niemann also recently served as Assistant Conductor at the Aspen Music Festival and School, following fellowships (2022, 2021, 2018) at the Aspen Conducting Academy, where he refined his musicianship and conducting technique under the tutelage of Robert Spano and the insights of guest instructors Mark Stringer, Patrick Summers, and Hugh Wolff. As a cover conductor, Niemann recently served with Minnesota Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, where he has been a frequent guest covering for Rune Bergmann, James Conlon, and Jonathon Heyward. He has accumulated additional extensive experience working alongside Gianandrea Noseda at the National Symphony Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbański with Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Courtney Lewis at Jacksonville Symphony. Niemann has participated in a vast array of prestigious masterclasses and competitions. Under David Zinman, he led the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich; for Michael Tilson Thomas, he conducted the New World Symphony; and with Cristian Măcelaru, he led the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. Niemann advanced to the quarter-finals of the 17th Donatella Flick Conducting Competition (2023), where he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra. Jacob Niemann is a three-time recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award (2023, 2024, 2025). He was awarded the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize from the Aspen Music School and Festival’s Aspen Conducting Academy in 2021. Niemann holds a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Bachelor’s degree in Trombone Performance from Peabody Conservatory. Early in his career, Niemann served as Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Learn more about all 18 2025 Career Assistance Award Recipients at
https://www.soltifoundation.us/career-assistance-awards

12/06/2025

Meet the 2025 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award Recipients

Ian Niederhoffer is the Founder, Music Director, and General Director of Parlando, the acclaimed New York-based chamber orchestra launched in 2019 that integrates storytelling into the concert experience through historical and cultural narrations from the podium. On February 28, 2025, Niederhoffer and Parlando released Censored Anthems, their debut album with Delos Productions and Outhere Music, exploring music as a tool of cultural resilience against Soviet censorship. Dedicated to commissioning new music, Niederhoffer has, as leader of Parlando, commissioned new works by inti figgis-vizueta, Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, Mason Bynes, and Anna Roberts-Gevalt. Past positions include serving as Music Director for the Vermont Mozart Festival, Vienna Summer Music Festival, and Gramercy Opera, Assistant Conductor for On Site Opera, and as cover conductor for Virginia Symphony Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Niederhoffer is a recipient of a 2025 Career Assistance Award by The Solti Foundation U.S. and was selected as a BBC Music Magazine Rising Star in January 2024. In June 2024, Niederhoffer participated in the Tonhälle Zurich Conducting Academy with Paavo Järvi. He is also the winner of three prizes at the 2021 Khachaturian International Conducting Competition. In 2021, while serving as Assistant Conductor for Lahav Shani, Daniel Harding, Antonio Pappano, and Gábor Takacs-Nágy at the Verbier Festival’s Conducting Academy, Niederhoffer was named Artist of Promise. Niederhoffer holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Yale University, which honored him with the Wrexham Prize and the Joseph Lentilhon Selden Memorial Award. His principal teachers include Leonid Grin, Toshiyuki Shimada, and William Boughton.

Learn more about all 18 2025 Career Assistance Award Recipients at
https://www.soltifoundation.us/career-assistance-awards

09/06/2025

Meet the 2025 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award Recipients

William Long is Conductor and Music Staff at The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera, and Guest Conductor and Teaching Artist at California’s Music Academy of the West. In 2024, he was awarded a Grammy for his work on the Metropolitan Opera’s recording of Terence Blanchard’s Champion. Long continues his relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra where he has conducted and assisted on a wide variety of programs since 2020. In 2025-26 Maestro Long returns to The Metropolitan Opera for Carmen and makes his Houston Grand Opera debut conducting Hänsel und Gretel. Additional debuts include conducting at the Merola Opera Program and covering assignments with the San Francisco Symphony and Detroit Opera. Recent and past highlights include his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican, his Carnegie Hall debut conducting The Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, Carmen at Washington National Opera, the Centennial Open House Concert for San Francisco Opera and the world premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones with Opera Theater Saint Louis and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Long has worked extensively with San Francisco Opera as Assistant Conductor on productions of Lohengrin, Arabella, Hänsel und Gretel, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and the world premiere of John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra. The recipient of two Career Assistance Awards from The Solti Foundation U.S. (2023 and 2025), Long holds a Master’s in Conducting and a Bachelor’s in Piano Performance from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He studied with Harold Farberman at the Conductor’s Institute at Bard College and Vance George at Westminster Choir College.

Learn more about all 18 2025 Career Assistance Award Recipients at
https://www.soltifoundation.us/career-assistance-awards

05/06/2025

Meet the 2025 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award Recipients

Donald Lee III has appeared with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Des Moines Metro Opera, Cincinnati Opera, South Loop Symphony (Chicago), Chicago City-Wide Symphony Orchestra, members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Opera NextGen. Recently a cover conductor for Oakland Symphony, a position he has served since 2024, Lee has also served as cover conductor with California Symphony, the Gateways Festival Orchestra, and Des Moines Metro Opera. Upcoming engagements include serving as cover conductor for Chicago Opera Theater’s She Who Dared in June 2025, conductor at Jackston State University’s Summer Opera Bootcamp in July and serving as conductor and coach at the 2025 Chautauqua Opera Conservatory at the Chautauqua Institution. As an advocate for the performance of new music by under-represented composers, Lee has conducted the music of Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, and Carlos Simon. Lee appeared as the guest conductor for Montgomery Presents the Blacknificent 7, part of the CSO MusicNOW concert series. He has also conducted the workshops of In The Rush, a new opera by Carlos Simon, Lynn Nottage, and Ruby Aiyo-Gerber at Cincinnati Opera and Indiana University. As a pianist, Lee has been a part of the creation of six new operas through Opera Theater St. Louis’ New Works Collective. He was also the pianist for Will Liverman’s The Factotum, improvising in multiple genres throughout the opera. Lee studied conducting at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Edwin Outwater, where he also had the opportunity to learn from Michael Tilson Thomas. From 2021-24, Lee served as the inaugural conductor/pianist of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center. He is the recipient of a 2025 Career Assistance Award from The Solti Foundation U.S.

Learn more about all 18 2025 Career Assistance Award Recipients at
https://www.soltifoundation.us/career-assistance-awards

04/06/2025

Meet the 2025 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award Recipients

Andrew Jinhong Kim has been Music Director of New York Youth Symphony Orchestra since 2023, leading successful concerts at Carnegie Hall with the orchestra and renowned soloists. He also leads the orchestra’s Robert L. Poster Apprentice Conducting Program. Beginning fall 2025, he is the new Director of the Berkshire Symphony, a semi-professional orchestra consisting of Williams College faculty and professionals playing alongside students selected via audition, and Artist in Residence in Orchestral and Instrumental Activities at Williams College. Kim also serves on the Conducting Institute’s faculty, a comprehensive training program led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Highlights of Kim’s 2024-25 season include assisting on Dayton Opera’s production of Aida at Dayton Opera as a 2025 Elizabeth Buccheri Opera Residency recipient, residencies at Rice and Baylor Universities, and guest conducting Berkshire Symphony, Brooklyn Symphony, and Delaware County Youth Orchestra with his mentor Andrew Hauze as the soloist. Kim has guest conducted with orchestras including Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, among others. He regularly serves as a cover conductor with the Minnesota Orchestra and has also served as Assistant Conductor of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. A two-time recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award (2024, 2025), Kim studied with Mark Russell Smith at University of Minnesota, with Octavio Más-Arocas at Ithaca College, and with Andrew Hauze at Swarthmore College. He is mentored by Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

Learn more about all 18 2025 Career Assistance Award Recipients at
https://www.soltifoundation.us/career-assistance-awards

04/06/2025

Meet the 2025 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award Recipients

Assistant Conductor at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia since 2022, Dutch American conductor Robert Kahn enjoys a career on both the symphonic and operatic stages. In addition to his current post, Kahn also regularly serves as cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic. During the 2024-25 season, Maestro Kahn led a production of Così fan Tutte with the Academy of Vocal Arts, served as cover conductor for Opera Philadelphia’s production of Don Giovanni, and made his subscription debut with the Marin Symphony (California). He also recently served as cover conductor to Jaap van Zweden with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In summer 2024, he toured Vail and Asia as cover conductor with the New York Philharmonic. Recent and past engagements include the Rochester Symphony and Mannes School of Music, and the opera houses ON SITE OPERA (New York), Music On Site, Academy of Vocal Arts (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), and Overtone Industries. Kahn holds a Master’s degree and Professional Studies Diploma from the Mannes School of Music, and a double Bachelor’s degree from John Hopkins University & Peabody Conservatory. Kahn was a Glimmerglass Festival Young Artist Assistant Conductor (2023 and 2022), and as the recipient of a Julius Rudel Conducting Award, served a 2015-2019 Residency with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, where he served as conductor for a children’s concert and donor appreciation concert, and as Assistant Conductor for JoAnn Falletta and guest conductors. Kahn was awarded a Conducting Fellowship at the Curtis Institute of Music from 2019 - 2022, where he was mentored by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and is a recipient of two Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards (2022 and 2025).

Learn more about all 18 2025 Career Assistance Award Recipients at
https://www.soltifoundation.us/career-assistance-awards

04/06/2025

Meet the 2025 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award Recipients

Yoona Jeong is the first female Asian conductor appointed Assistant Conductor of both the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra and the Reno Chamber Orchestra. Her other current and previous roles include Music Director of the Slippery Rock University Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the University of Texas University Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Jeong has collaborated with professional orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Paris Mozart Orchestra, Pärnu City Orchestra, and Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. With the Pittsburgh Symphony, she assisted Manfred Honeck, Christoph Eschenbach, and Byron Stripling, and worked alongside guest artists such as Lang Lang and Ray Chen. With the Dallas Symphony, she served as a cover and Assistant conductor under Fabio Luisi and worked with Augustin Hadelich. With the Butler Opera Center, she assisted James Conlon for Eugene Onegin and the world premiere of Tzu-Chin Hsu’s Audition Fever. She also conducted at the Pärnu Music Festival, Princeton Festival, Medomak Music Festival, and Pierre Monteux School Music Festival. She was featured in the documentary “Symphonic Sketches,” which was recognized at various film festivals. Yoona Jeong is the recipient of a 2025 Career Assistance Award from The Solti Foundation U.S. She won First Prize at the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra Conducting Competition and the Best Interpretation Prize at the 17th Khachaturian International Competition. In 2024, she was one of 14 conductors selected from 197 applicants across 47 countries for the La Maestra Paris International Conducting Competition. She was also invited to the renowned Järvi Academy to study with Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, and Kristjan Järvi, and Leonid Grin, as well as the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music to study with Cristian Măcelaru.

Learn more about all 18 2025 Career Assistance Award Recipients at
https://www.soltifoundation.us/career-assistance-awards

29/05/2025

The Solti Foundation U.S.'s 2018 Solti Fellow, Roderick Cox, makes his Asia debut! Read all about it in the Korea Herald's article below!

American conductor Roderick Cox, a rising star based in Berlin, is set to make his Asia debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on Friday at GS Arts Center

23/05/2025

Meet the 2025 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award Recipients

Alden Gatt is currently Kapellmeister for the Frankfurt Opera. He is also an award-winning accompanist and coach. In addition to his work with Frankfurt Opera, he has recently guested as both Conductor and as Assistant conductor for Santa Fe Opera, and as Assistant Conductor for The Dallas Opera in the past two seasons. This season, for Frankfurt Opera, Gatt conducted revivals of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf's Doctor & Pharmacist and in 2025-26 will lead the premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's Punch and Judy. Past performances of note include conducting the company's first ever Frankfurt performances of Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba and a revival of Die Zauberflöte. Gatt has been on the music staff at many prestigious opera houses, including the Berlin State Opera, the Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, Opera Leipzig, San Francisco Opera, and The Dallas Opera. He has worked alongside such renowned conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Simone Young, Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle and Emmanuel Villaume. As a collaborative pianist with many well-known artists, including Isabel Leonard and Wallis Giunta, Gatt has appeared in such venues as Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, WNYC’s Greene Space, the Messiaen Festival, and in Leipzig’s historic Mendelssohn House as part of the prestigious Bach Festival. During his three seasons as vocal coach at Opera Leipzig, Mr. Gatt conducted and performed with the world-renowned Gewandhaus Orchestra. Gatt is the recipient of numerous awards as a pianist and pianist accompanist for singers. Fluent in French, Italian, German, and Mandarin Chinese, Mr. Gatt holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied solo piano with Barry Snyder.

Learn more about all 18 2025 Career Assistance Award Recipients at
https://www.soltifoundation.us/career-assistance-awards