Menuhin Conducting Prize (former Neeme Järvi Prize)
The Menuhin Conducting Prize
The Menuhin Festival Gstaad continues its long-standing support of young conductors with the Menuhin Conducting Prize. One participant of the Conducting Academy will receive the award, which takes into account not only their development and overall performance during the Conducting Academy but also the impression made at the final concert in the Festival Tent in Gstaad.
Founded in 2015 under the name Neeme Järvi Prize, the award now bears the name of Yehudi Menuhin, whose artistic legacy is inextricably linked to the festival.
A jury consisting of professors of the Conducting Academy, representatives of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra and representatives of the five partner orchestras will select the winner of the Menuhin Conducting Prize. This year, the partner orchestras are the Berner Symphonieorchester, Dresdner Philharmonie, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Philharmonie Südwestfalen and Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn.
For the first time, an audience award will be presented in 2026. During the final concert, the audience will vote digitally for their favorite.
The 11th Menuhin Conducting Prize
Since July 28, ten young conductors have been working intensely within the Conducting Academy with Jaap van Zweden, Alexander Shelley, Johannes Schaefli and Stef Collignon. The Academy culminated the final concert at the Festival Tent Gstaad, where the finalists performed before the jury and the audience. The evening was hosted by Daniel Hope and Tamina Kallert, one of the most prominent travel and cultural moderators in the German-speaking TV landscape.
At the final concert, the ten finalists conducted the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, which played Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto with solist Raphael Nussbaumer, as well as Symphony No. 4 by Johannes Brahms.
The winners
Tess Jackson (2000) and Leonhard Kreutzmann (2003) share the Menuhin Conducting Prize. The jury decided to distribute a double award due to the extraordinary talent of both young conductors. Tess Jackson impressed with her assured performance in the third movement, Allegro molto, of Elgar’s Violin Concerto. Leonhard Kreutzmann brought Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 to a triumphant conclusion with power and energy.
The winners share an extensive development package: guest conducting engagements with all five partner orchestras, an invitation to return as a jury member for a future edition of the Conducting Prize, as well as the chance to assist Jaap van Zweden on a project with one of his orchestras.
New in 2026 is an Audience Prize. During the final concert, the audience voted digitally for their favorite. With 23 percent of the votes, Spanish conductor Gonzalo Alarcón Burriel (2001) won the Audience Prize. He conducted the Gstaad Festival Orchestra in the first movement, Allegro, of Elgar’s Violin Concerto. The prize includes three nights during the Menuhin Festival Gstaad 2027 at the Ermitage Wellness & Spa Hotel in Schönried, including a destination and festival package.
Jury & Process
The jury comprises professors from the Conducting Academy, representatives oft he Gstaad Festival Orchestra and representatives oft he five partner orchestras: Alexander Shelley, Johannes Schlaefli, Polina Peskina and Witold Moniewski (Gstaad Festival Orchestra), Christopher Dingstad (Dresdner Philharmonie), Florian Scholz (Berner Symphonieorchester), Dieter Kaegi and Yannis Pouspourikas (Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn TOBS!), Ulrich Amacher and Sebastian Hazod (Musikkollegium Winterthur), as well as Michael Nassauer (Philharmonie Südwestfalen, in absentia).
The Menuhin Conducting Prize deliberately takes into account both each participant’s development and overall performance throughout the Academy and their performance at the final concert.
Menuhin Conducting Prize 2026 - Final Concert
Tess Jackson, Leonhard Kreutzmann, Gonzalo Alarcón Burriel (Fotos: Raphael Faux)
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2026
Tess Jackson (GB)
Leonhard Kreutzmann (DE)
Gonzalo Alarcón Burriel (ES): Publikumspreis
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2025
Joséphine Korda (GB): Guest conductor of the Kammerorchester Basel, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, dem Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne und im Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn
Shira Samuels-Shragg (US): Guest conductor of the Sinfonieorchester Basel
Simon Clausse (FR): Guest conductor of the Musikkollegium Winterthur
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2024
Gabriel Perner (CH): Guest conductor of the Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn, Kammerorchester Basel, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne
Alizé Léhon (FR): Guest conductor of the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Sinfonieorchester Basel
Omer Ein Zvi (IL): Guest conductor of the Berner Symphonieorchester
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2023
Aurel Dawidiuk (GE): Guest conductor of the Kammerorchester Basel, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn
Anna Sułkowska-Migoń (PL): Guest conductor of the Berner Symphonieorchester, Musikkollegium Winterthur and Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn
Yukuang Jin (CHN): Guest conductor of the Philharmonie Südwestfalen
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2022
Izabelė Jankauskaitė (LT): Guest conductor of the Berner Symphonieorchester, the Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Musikkollegium Winterthur
Kyrian Friedenberg (US): Guest Conductor of the Kammerorchester Basel
Samy Rachid (FR): Guest Conductor of the Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn
Daniel Huertas (ES): Guest Conductor of the Philharmonie Südwestfalen
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2021
Andreas Ottensamer (AUT): Guest conductor of the Sinfonieorchester Basel and Kammerorchester Basel
Andreas Hansson (SWE): Guest Conductor of the Orchestra de Chamber de Lausanne and the Philharmonie Südwestfalen
Jakub Przybcień (PL): Promotion prize, Guest Conductor of the Berner Symphonieorchester and the Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2019
Teresa Riveiro Böhm (AUT/ESP): Guest conductor of the Kammerorchester Basel
Hankyeol Yoon (KOR): Guest conductor of the Sinfonieorchester Basel
Jonas Bürgin (CH): Promotion prize, Guest Conductor of the Berner Symphonieorchester
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2018
Andrew Joon Choi (USA): Kammerorchester Basel, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Berner Symphonieorchester
Bar Avni (ISR): Re-Invitation to the Gstaad Conducting Academy 2019
Tabita Berglund (NOR): Re-Invitation to the Gstaad Conducting Academy 2019
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2017
Petr Popelka (Czech Republic): Kammerorchester Basel, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Berner Symphonieorchester
Katharina Wincor (Austria): Re-Invitation to the Gstaad Conducting Academy 2018
Winner of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2016
Joseph Bastian (Switzerland/France): Kammerorchester Basel, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Musikkollegium Winterthur
Winners of the Menuhin Conducting Prize 2015
Nuno Coelho (Portugal): Kammerorchester Basel
François López-Ferrer (USA, Spain): Musikkollegium Winterthur
Toby Thatcher (Australia, UK): Sinfonieorchester Basel