25 year old British conductor Kerem Hasan has been awarded 1st prize at the 2017 Nestle and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Competition, in Salzburg, Austria.
A student at the Zurich University of the Arts, Karem currently serves as Associate Conductor of the Welsh National Opera - and was recently selected as a Finalist in the 2016 London Symphony Orchestra Donatella Flick Conducting Competition.
"He has the necessary self-confidence … he knows what he wants and he has the talent required …” Competition Jury Chair Dennis Russell Davies has said.
Selected from 67 applicants, Kerem will receive €15,000 (US $17,000) and a prestigious opportunity to conduct at next year’s Salzburg Felsenreitschule.
Previous 1st prize winners include Aziz Shokhakimov, Lorenzo Viotti, Maxime Pascal, Ben Gernon, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Ainārs Rubikis and David Afkham.