Musical America Names 2026 Honorees

Coincident with the release of its 2026 International Directory of the Performing Arts, Musical America has announced the winners of its annual awards. The Artist of the Year is pianist Emanuel Ax, with Gabriela Lena Frank tapped as Composer of the Year, Jakub Hruša as Conductor of the Year, Gerald Finley as Vocalist of the Year, and Martha Gilmer as Impresario of the Year.

“Every one of these individuals has a notable record of exceptional contributions to the performing arts,” said Musical America Publisher Stephanie Challener.

Artist of the Year Emanuel Ax

Of course, some have been at it a little longer than others. Emanuel Ax this year celebrates some 50-plus years at the top of his game, his performances, not to mention his passion for the repertoire, are as vital as ever, whether playing the world premiere of John Williams’s Piano Concerto at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony, or Brahms Piano Trios with Yo-Yo Ma and Leonidas Kavakos. or Chopin and Schumann Fantasies on the Carnegie Hall stage. Ax’s tribute article has been penned by noted pianist and author Stuart Isacoff, a longtime Musical America contributor. 

Composer of the Year Gabriela Lena Frank 

With a Peruvian/Chinese mother and Lithuanian Jewish father, Gabriela Frank uses the colors and rhythms of her origins in her music, which she often purposes toward environmental and civic concerns. She has been composer in residence with multiple orchestras, most recently the Philadelphia, and fulfilled commissions ranging from the Kronos Quartet to the Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago symphony orchestras. With a catalog that encompasses chamber, piano, orchestral, and vocal works, her opera El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego (2022), with libretto by Nilo Cruz, comes in May to the Metropolitan Opera. A Musical America Top 30 Professional in 2018, Cruz mentors young composers and promotes climate awareness at her California-based Gabriela Frank Creative Academy of Music in Boonville, CA. 

Conductor of the Year Jakub Hruša  

In his April, 2022 Musical America review titled A Potential Successor to Antonio Papano Emerges in ROH Lohengrin, Clive Paget wrote, “Hrusa is a fine Wagnerian with an ear for musical texture and sound instincts when it comes to balancing his orchestra against his singers. The prelude to Act I was finely graded and fluent, while Act II opened in a gloomy haze of brooding strings and scowling woodwind…. Best of all, the drama really flowed, with Hrusa sensing just when to put his foot on the accelerator and when a moment called for sufficient space to breath.” As of this season, Hrusa did indeed succeed Pappano as music director of the Royal Opera House, while also holding the same position with the Bamberg Symphony and being designated to helm the Czech Philharmonic in 2028. He has also guest conducted the world’s top orchestras, from the Cleveland Orchestra to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra to the Vienna and New York Philharmonics. 

Vocalist of the Year Gerald Finley 

Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley has been a consistently solid vocal presence on international stages for decades. Known for the warmth of his sound and for his impeccable artistry, he built his reputation in Mozart, before adding key roles in works by Rossini, Verdi, Bartok, Wagner, and more. He is a particular fan of John Adams, whose Antony and Cleopatra paired him with Julia Bullock at the Metropolitan Opera last season. As one critic wrote, "A voice ... that felt like a cashmere scarf on a cold night." 

Impresario of the Year Martha Gilmore

Chicago native Martha Gilmer is only the second individual in Musical America’s history to be titled Impresario of the Year. How else to describe an individual who transformed an orchestra from mid profile to high—artistically, economically, architecturally, and, perhaps most impressive, civically. With its snazzy new outdoor Rady Shell planted in one of the city’s most popular public parks, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra (SDSO) is hard to miss, aurally (they rehearse there too) or visually. Gilmer also renovated the downtown concert hall, and hired the orchestra’s fast-rising Music Director, Rafael Payare. Call her a brilliant talent scout, fund raiser, and collaborator.  

Musical America

Founded as a weekly newspaper in 1898, Musical America through the years has appeared in a variety of formats. Today, it is both the International Directory of the Performing Arts and MusicalAmerica.com. The annual Directory, known as the “bible” of the industry, features over 14,000 detailed listings of worldwide arts organizations, with over 8,000 artists indexed both alphabetically and categorically. The first Directory was published in 1960, which is also when the tradition of choosing a Musician/Artist of the Year began. Past recipients include Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Vladimir Horowitz, Beverly Sills, George Balanchine, Arthur Rubinstein, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Marilyn Horne, André Previn, Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, Yuja Wang, Audra McDonald, Peter Sellars, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Mitsuko Uchida. Last year, Musical America honored conductor/singer Barbara Hannigan as Artist of the Year, Jake Heggie as Composer of the Year, Víkingur Ólafsson as Instrumentalist of the Year, Angel Blue as Vocalist of the Year, and James Robinson as Director of the Year.