From Al.ComAlabama Symphony Assistant Conductor Yaniv Attar is the recipient of the 2010 Solti Foundation's Career Development Award, a $5,000 grant given every two years to conductors 32 years old and younger.
The 30-year-old Israel native, who studied at the Juilliard School, Royal College of Music in London and McGill University in Montreal, holds the Bruno Walter Conducting Chair at ASO, where he leads educational and community outreach programs.
Attar will not be on ASO's roster next season, however. The orchestra is seeking a new assistant conductor to lead its planned Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra. Resident Conductor Christopher Confessore will conduct ASO's family and outreach programs. Attar is currently taking auditions for other conducting positions.
Attar has also worked with the National, Virginia and Milwaukee Symphonies and orchestras in England, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Romania. He is also an accomplished classical guitarist.
Established in 1997 to honor the late conductor Georg Solti, the Evanston, Ill.-based Solti Foundation U.S. offers awards annually to promising young conductors. Along with $5,000, Attar will receive conducting engagements in Europe.
