Caleb Young
“Young took the orchestra to a dreamlike and lyrical trip in a glittering pianissimo ... the conductor was a experienced leader whom the orchestra could rely on”
Known for his outstanding interpretations of American music, Berlin-based conductor Caleb Young has gained international renown as one of the most exciting emerging American artists of today.
Mentored by legendary Finnish conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Young connects his rigorous training in the European classical tradition with a passion for the viscerality of American music, resulting in daring and fresh renditions of both. He commands a breadth of repertoire, able to tap into the full spectrum of American composers. Indeed, under Young's baton, the works of Copland, Bernstein, Jennifer Higdon, and Jessie Montgomery receive artistic treatment equal to those of Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Mahler, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich.
Young’s conducting résumé includes a number of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Finnish Chamber Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, Columbus Symphony, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra; as cover conductor, he works regularly with John Williams and orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has served the Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Atlanta Opera, Portland Symphony, and the National Music Festival.
Having made a strong impression in Finland, in the season 2022/23, Young will make his debut with the Tapiola Sinfonietta. The season will also see him return to the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and to the Cleveland Ballet to conduct Balanchine’s Serenade.
Several of Europe’s hallowed institutions have recognized Young’s sensitivity, dynamism, and exemplary technique. In summer 2021, Finland’s Fiskars Summer Festival named Young part of “the next generation of leaders in classical music”, awarding him mentorship under renowned conductors Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Hannu Lintu, Sakari Oramo and others at the LEAD! Foundation Academy's conductors' masterclass. To close the Festival, Young was further awarded the honor of conducting the Finnish Chamber Orchestra alongside Saraste and Salonen, a performance which received glowing reviews. Previously, he was awarded the 2016 Ansbacher Fellowship for Young Conductors Prize, given by the Salzburg Festival and members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Alongside his developing career in Europe, Young’s engagements frequently take him to the United States, where he has been appointed as Guest Conductor for Engagement for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, starting in the season 2021/22. The appointment enables him to build upon his recent award-winning five year tenure as the Philharmonic’s Associate Conductor, a formidable legacy that includes more than 200 performances conducted as well as founding the “Music and Mixology” series which continues to engage young professionals with orchestral music. In 2018, he earned an Emerging Artist Award, an honour bestowed to the region’s “arts and cultural leaders” by Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne—one of the oldest nonprofit artistic funding initiatives in the United States.
He holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University; his former pedagogues include David Effron, Arthur Fagen, Demondrae Thurman, and John Ratledge.
