The Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors has announced the winner of the First Prize: 29-year-old Satoshi Yoneda from Japan beat China’s Xie Tianyi and Canadian-American Kirian Friedenberg in the final.

The jury, chaired by Michael Schønwandt, also awarded the event’s youngest competitor, 21-year-old Xie Tianyi, a Special Mention for his « incredible talent and immense potential ». The young Chinese conductor also won the Audience’s Favourite and the Orchestra’s Favourite.

Born in August 1996, winner Satoshi Yoneda began playing the piano at an early age and joined the Youth Orchestra of Okayama (southern Japan), his hometown, where he was in charge of percussion. As a student at the Faculty of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts, he studied conducting and took part in conducting master-classes led by Paavo Järvi and Kazuki Yamada, among others. Winner of the Ataka Prize in 2018, Satoshi Yoneda was a finalist in 2021 at the 19th Tokyo International Music Competition in conducting.