EVANSTON, IL (TIP): Two Indian American conductors Roger Kalia and Sameer Patel are among nine recipients of 2017 Solti Foundation awards.

Established in 2000 to honor the memory of Sir Georg Solti by lending significant support to career-ready young American musicians, in 2004, the Foundation concentrated the focus of its award program to exclusively assist talented young American conductors early in their professional careers (its original mission was of a more general arts nature). Since then, it has awarded over $500,000 in grants to American conductors.

Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, announced the names of the recipients of the 2017 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards. “The Solti Foundation U.S. is thrilled to announce the 2017 Career Assistance Award recipients,” said Ms. Van Horn. “These young conductors are part of the fabric of our future musical landscape, and we are proud to identify, support and encourage these young musicians in the early stages of their classical careers.”

Co-Founder and Music Director of the Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York, Assistant Conductor of the Pacific Symphony and Music Director of Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, Roger Kalia is only the second assistant conductor in the Pacific Symphony’s history to have his contract extended for two additional years. A proud recipient of a 2013 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, Kalia conducted the Memphis Symphony in 2011 after winning Second Prize in their International Conducting Competition, which led to his debut the following season and launched his professional career. In 2011 Kalia served as a fellow at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, chosen by Marin Alsop.

Associate Conductor of the San Diego Symphony, Sameer Patel also begins his tenure as Associate Conductor of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony this summer 2017. Internationally, Patel has guested with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Leipziger Sinfonieorchester, and Orchestra Giovanile Italiana. Recipient of a 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, Patel is also a Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholar. In 2013, Sameer was one of only six conductors selected by the League of American orchestras for the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview.