Philharmonie de Paris
(c) Remy Franck

The Philharmonie de Paris and the Orchestre Paris Mozart are continuing their collaboration for the 4th edition of the La Maestra International Competition for Women Conductors. This new edition of the competition, entirely dedicated to female conductors, will be held from Monday, February 23 to Saturday, February 28, 2026 at the Philharmonie de Paris.

Out of 225 applications received from around the world, 16 conductors have been selected, representing 13 different nationalities, with an average age of 28.

The jury will be chaired by Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv (music director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, principal guest conductor of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, and founder of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine). It will include Claire Gibault (artistic and music director of the Orchestre Paris Mozart), Wayne Marshall (conductor, organist, and pianist), Vineta Sareika (violinist and former concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker), Matías Tarnopolsky (president and CEO of the New York Philharmonic), Fabienne Voisin (president and CEO of the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal), and Philipp von Steinaecker (conductor and cellist).

Here are the 16 candidates:

Doğa Çetin, 25 ans, turque
Nefeli Chadouli, 32 ans, grecque
Soo Jin Chung, 30 ans, canadienne
Mariana Corichi Gómez, 26 ans, mexicaine
Lamar Elias, 26 ans, palestinienne
Sunwoo Jeong, 23 ans, sud-coréenne
Sukjong Kim, 33 ans, sud-coréenne
Oksana Krotyk, 26 ans, ukrainienne
Jiajing Lai, 34 ans, chinoise
Polina Lebedieva, 24 ans, ukrainienne
Alizé Léhon, 27 ans, française
Noemí Pasquina, 39 ans, espagnole
Lea Ray, 28 ans, allemande
Jessica Rivero Altarriba, 31 ans, cubaine
Molly Turner, 28 ans, américaine
Öykü Yanık, 24 ans, turque