Caleb Young

Guest Conductor for Engagement

Known for his energetic interpretations of American music, Berlin-based conductor Caleb Young has gained international renown as one of the most exciting emerging American artists of today. Closely 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. Under Young’s baton, Copland, Bernstein, Jennifer Higdon, and Jessie Montgomery receive artistic treatment equal to those of Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Mahler, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich.

In summer 2021, Finland’s Fiskars Summer Festival named Young part of “the next generation of leaders in classical music”, awarding him mentorship under legendary 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.

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.

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.

A native of North Carolina, Young 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.