Britain's Ben Gernon wins Salzburg young conductors award
AFP
VIENNA- Britain's Ben Gernon on Sunday won the fourth edition of the Nestle and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award.
The prize carries a purse of 15,000 euros ($19,500) and includes an opportunity to conduct the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra at a festival concert in Salzburg in August.
Jury chairman Ingo Metzmacher said Gernon's "great musicality and his special connection with the orchestra" convinced the panel.
Gernon, who came second in the Donatella Flick London Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition in 2012, has studied conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Since then, he has conducted the Southwark Youth Orchestra and assisted Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel who leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
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