London Symphony Appoints New 26 Year Old Assistant Conductor

26 year old Niklas Benjamin Hoffmann has been awarded 1st prize at the 14th Donatella Flick London Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition

26 year old German conductor Niklas Benjamin Hoffmann has been awarded 1st prize at the 14th Donatella Flick London Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition - at the Barbican Center in London.

Narrowed down from over 200 European applicants, Niklas will receive £15,000 (US $19,000) to aid with his studies - plus the 1 year appointment as Assistant Conductor to the London Symphony Orchestra.

A graduate of the Franz Liszt University of Music, where he studied with Nicolas Pasquet, Gunter Kahlert, Markus Frank and Martin Hoff, Niklas has recently lead performances with the Jena Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Weimar and the Leipzig Middle German Radio Symphony.

The biennial competition was established in 1990 by philanthropist Donatello Flick - and is open to European citizens up to the age of 35.

This year’s jury comprised conductors Sir Antonio Pappano, Yuri Temirkanov, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Carlo Rizzi, soprano Dame Felicity Lott - and London Symphony Sub-Leader Lennox MacKenzie and Principal Bassoonist Rachel Gough.

The jury also commended this year’s other two Finalists: Vlad Vizireanu from Romania and Kerem Hasan from the United Kingdom.