2026 Aspen Conducting Academy Class

Sara Aldana

Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, conductor Sara Aldana is known for her collaborative leadership and belief in music as a force for connection and inclusion. She has served as Cover Conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and held assistant conducting roles with the Reno Chamber Orchestra and Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra. During the 2025–26 season, she makes her debut with the Bogotá and Lansing Symphony Orchestras while continuing her artistic development as a Conducting Fellow at the Cabrillo Music Festival, a student of Marin Alsop at the Peabody Institute, and as a 2026 Taki Alsop Conducting Mentee.

https://www.sara-aldana.com/

Johannes Beranek

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

Next season, Johannes Beranek will make his debut with the Musikkollegium Winterthur, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Academic Philharmonic and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Following his debut with the North Czech Philharmonic, he will return next season. He was assistant conductor at the Salzburg Mozart Week, working with Roberto González-Monjas on Rolando Villazón's production of The Magic Flute. As a composer, he will have premieres with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra at the Vienna Concert House and with the Vienna Concert Association. In 2025, he won the Österreicher Conducting Award and was a Conducting Fellow at the AMFS in 2024.

https://johannesberanek.at/

Samuel Chung

Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music

Samuel Chung is a Korean-American conductor. As Founder of the Magari Ensemble, Chung has collaborated on interdisciplinary projects with the Schönberg Center Vienna and performed at the San Francisco and New England Conservatories of Music. Chung is a conducting fellow with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and was on the faculty of the Montecito Music Festival at California Lutheran University as Orchestra Director. He studies orchestral conducting at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and holds degrees from UCLA and Boston University. His teachers have included Arthur Fagen, Jeffery Meyer, Nicolás Pasquet, Johannes Schlaefli, Neal Stulberg, and Thomas Wilkins.

Omer Ein Zvi

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler"

Israeli conductor Omer Ein Zvi (b. 2005) is Conductor in Residence at Staatsoper Stuttgart, one of the youngest ever appointed to a major house. Winner of the 2024 Neeme Järvi Prize (Gstaad Conducting Academy), his 2025/26 season features debuts with DSO Berlin, Berner Symphonieorchester, and Münchner Rundfunkorchester. A 2024 Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center and Aspen Conducting Academy (2023). A dedicated opera conductor, Ein Zvi debuted at 19 with Idomeneo and has assisted at Theater an der Wien and Bühnen Bern. Currently studying in Berlin with Markus Stenz and Vienna with Mark Stringer, he is represented by Intermusica’s mentoring program.

Ricardo Ferro

The Juilliard School

Ricardo Ferro is a Venezuelan-Canadian conductor, composer, and pianist. Ferro received Master’s degrees in Conducting and Composition from The Juilliard School studying with David Robertson and Matthias Pintscher. Recent performance engagements include conducting appearances with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Tonkünstler Orchestra, and premieres with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and the Canadian League of Composers. Ferro has worked as assistant and preparatory conductor to notable artists including Gustavo Dudamel, Barbara Hannigan, Brad Lubman, and Louis Langreé, and with ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, The World Doctors Orchestra, and Juilliard Orchestra.

https://www.ricardoferromusic.com/

Mariano García Valladares

Universidad Panamericana

Rémi Geniet

Robert Schumann Hochschule

Winner of the Second Prize at the 2013 Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, Rémi Geniet has built an international career marked by critically acclaimed recordings, including Bach and Beethoven releases. Driven by a deep interest in the orchestral and lyric world, he studies conducting in Germany, and was invited by Riccardo Muti at his Italian Opera Academy, both as a répétiteur and conductor. In 2025/2026, he debuted with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, the Orchestre de Chambre Nouvelle Europe and conducted Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître in Salle Cortot, Paris. Geniet is Artistic Director of Sérénades en Baronnies Festival in Provence.

https://remigeniet.com/en/

Nicholas Han

University of Georgia

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Nicholas Han made is conducting debut with The Music & More SummerFest Music Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nicholas is currently finishing his Doctorate of Music Arts in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Georgia. He has held positions as Cover Conductor for the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma Chamber Symphony, and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Nicholas' principal mentors include Nikolas Caoile, Tomas Dickey, Alexander Mickelthwate, and Mark Cedel.

Claire Lewis

Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University

Claire Lewis is a NYC-based conductor and pianist. At 19, she made her Carnegie Hall conducting debut with the Chamber Orchestra of New York after winning the Respighi Prize. She has since conducted ensembles including the Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. She has served as the conducting fellow with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and as the Richmond Symphony’s inaugural Conducting Apprentice, and was selected for the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Mentoring Program. Claire earned her M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody Institute, where she studied with Marin Alsop.

https://www.clairelewismusic.com/

Enoch Li

Harvard University and New England Conservatory

Hong Kong-born conductor and violinist Enoch Li’s conducting teachers include Dr. Yip Wai Hong, Samuel Pang and Federico Cortese. He was chosen as a participant to masterclasses by Tim Redmond, Mark Laycock, Joseph Bastian, David Itkin and Michaelis Economou. He was a Conducting Fellow at Aspen in 2025, returning as the recipient of the James Conlon Conducting Prize. This May, Enoch completed his Bachelor in Mathematics at Harvard University, during which he was the conductor of multiple orchestras and opera companies, most recently conducting a production of Le Nozze di Figaro.