Elias Brown announced as the 2026 recipient of The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award
July 16, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GRANT COMMUNICATIONS Massachusetts - New York
Evanston, IL – The Solti Foundation U.S. today announced the 2026 recipient of The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. Board Chair Penny Van Horn and Artistic and Awards Committee Chair Elizabeth Buccheri officially shared the news regarding the largest grant currently awarded to American conductors in the formative years of their professional careers.
Ms. Van Horn stated, “It is a great pleasure to announce the recipient of the 2026 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Elias Brown.Since he first came to our attention, Elias has continued to build a strong and expanding career. Perceptive and imaginative in his work, Elias has continued to expand his repertoire and develop relationships with orchestras and festivals, demonstrating the kind of artistic growth and creativity that were hallmarks of Sir Georg Solti. Congratulations Elias!"
Ms. Buccheri commented, “Elias has shown the world his passion and creativity on the classical music stage. Over the past few seasons, since he first received a Career Assistance Award from the Foundation, his trajectory has not slowed down. Congratulations Elias, and we look forward to watching what your future holds!"
A modern artist who is at home across a wide range of repertoire, disciplines and cultural contexts, Elias Brown conducts leading orchestras, curating imaginative collaborations across artforms. He recently made debuts with Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish Chamber Orchestra (broadcast on Denmark’s Radio P2), Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble Modern at the Acht Brucken Festival.
Brown's summer engagements include the US premiere of ...please leave your message after the tone... co-composed with Kristupas Bubnelis by BlackBox Ensemble at New York's MATA Festival, and serving at Italy's Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi as Direttore Musica da Scena and cover conductor for Barber's Vanessa, and an artist residency at Hotel Pupik in Steirmark, Austria, Brown's 2026-27 season will include the October release by MICL of his first full-length LP, ACCORDATURA, with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, featuring works by Kristupas Bubnelis.
Brown was mentored by Esa-Pekka Salonen as a former Salonen Fellow, and has worked as his assistant with San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and Ensemble Intercontemporain as well as, most recently, at Salzburg Easter Festival. He also served as Assistant Conductor with Odense Symphony Orchestra and Korean National Symphony Orchestra, and as a Solti Opera Residency Fellow at Washington National Opera for its 2024 production of Verdi's Macbeth under Principal Conductor Evan Rogister.
Past highlights include appearances with Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Flemish Symphony Orchestra, Nürnberger Symphoniker and Magdeburg Philharmonic. In 2021, Brown won First Prize and the orchestra prize at the Korean Conducting Competition, leading to further engagements in Korea.
Brown’s interest in interdisciplinary performance informs his work as a curator. His Master’s research at the Royal Academy of Music explored concert curation and was later published in Glissando Magazine.
Brown is also a composer.
Brown studied at Yale University, the Royal Academy of Music and Universität der Künste Berlin and was a Forum Dirigieren scholar. He is the recipient of 2023 and 2024 Career Assistance Awards from The Solti Foundation U.S.
