(Photo credit: Masatoshi Yamashiro)

Internationally recognized conductor Kietaro Harada was awarded the 2023 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award.

Harada is the Associate Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Music and Artistic Director of Savannah Philharmonic where his contract was just renewed through the 2026 -27 season. Harada and the Solti Foundation have an established relationship as he has been named the recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award six times.

In 2010, Harada was a Seiji Ozawa Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center where his performance of Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” boosted his opera career. He has since gone on to conduct at Arizona Opera, Nikikai Opera in Tokyo, and at countless professional orchestras worldwide. Harada has collaborated with Louis Langrée, James Conlon, and Juanjo Mena and has recorded three CDs.

Solti Foundation’s U.S. Board Chair Penny Van Horn said in a press release, “It is a pleasure to announce this year’s recipient of The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. The 2023 recipient is a musician we have watched for some time now and have provided Career Assistance Awards to him several times as his skills have developed and his career has continued to expand. Over the years, we have witnessed his growth on the podium, and his dedication to learning and mastering the art of conducting, not only in the orchestral and operatic fields, but also in the recording arena.”

The singular recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award receives a $30,000 grant – it is “the largest grant currently given to American conductors in the formative years of their careers.” To qualify you must be 38 years of age or younger. Other recipients of the award include Earl Lee (2022), Gemma New (2021), Christopher Allen (2017), and Erik Nielsen (2009).