Gerald Karni was born in 1996 into a family of musicians and is a two time recipient of the Georg Solti Career Assistance Award and winner of the Silver Medal at the 3rd International Antál Dorati Conducting Competition in Budapest.
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Highlights from recent seasons include performances with the Hamburger Camerata at the Elbphilharmonie, Mozartfest Augsburg and Traunsteiner Sommerkonzerte in Germany with musicians Maximilian Hornung and Vilde Frang, the Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra with soloist Michael Barenboim and conducting the New York Philharmonic Ensembles in the world premiere of Melinda Wagner’s “Elegy Flywheel” at Merkin Hall in New York.
Other engagements include conducting the Orchestra Svizzera Italiana, the Lucerne Symphony, the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester and the Verbier Festival & Chamber Orchestras. In May 2024, Gerald made his Belgrade Philharmonic debut, stepping in on just a few hours´ notice in a program which included Strauss` Don Quixote with cellist Daniel Müller Schott, Debussy`s Iberia and Marquez Danzon No. 2.
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Gerald was a Conducting Fellow at the Verbier Festival in 2022/23 where he assisted Sir Simon Rattle, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Gianandrea Noseda and Klaus Mäkelä. Among his mentors are Alan Gilbert who engaged Karni as an assistant conductor at the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim who directs the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Gerald initiated the project “Side-by-Side” in 2022 which combined members of the Tonhalle Orchestra and Zurich Opera in open readings with university students. The project aimed to strengthen the musical community in Zurich and give students an opportunity to sit with professionals, a project he hopes others will continue in the years ahead. He holds degrees in Viola Performance from the ZHdK where he studied with Lawrence Power and from the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana where he completed his Masters in Orchestral Conducting under the guidance of Marc Kissozcy.
Gerald lives in Berlin and enjoys watching professional tennis in his free time.
