Esa-Pekka Salonen Returns For Colburn Orchestra Performance And Conversation Previewing The 2026 Ojai Music Festival

Renowned composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, head of the Colburn School’s Negaunee Conducting Program and Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies, will conduct the Colburn Orchestra in Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 on Saturday, January 24, at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The program also features Salonen Fellow Aleksandra Melaniuk conducting the opening work, Liszt’s Les Préludes, and Salonen Fellow Mert Yalnız leading the world premiere of his own work, Limit.

On Wednesday, January 21, on the occasion of the 80th Ojai Music Festival (June 11-14, 2026), Salonen, the festival’s 2026 Music Director, will join in conversation Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed and Ojai’s Artistic and Executive Director Ara Guzelimian. Together, they will reflect on the Festival’s unique history and preview the upcoming Festival, which will also showcase the Ojai debut of the Colburn Orchestra.

Salonen joined the Colburn faculty in September 2018 to establish and lead the Negaunee Conducting Program, a pre-professional conducting program that supports a small, select group of students, known as Salonen Fellows, as they prepare for careers under Salonen’s guidance.

Aleksandra Melaniuk recently made her subscription concert debut with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, with the San Francisco Symphony in the SoundBox series, and was a last minute jump-in to conduct four performances of Verdi's La Traviata at Opera Holland Park. Her work as a cover conductor includes engagements with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, LA Phil, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony (with Esa-Pekka Salonen), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Orquesta Nacional de España (with Simone Young). In January 2026, she will make her debut with the LA Phil in the Symphonies for the Youth series.

With a keen passion for opera, Melaniuk has served as associate conductor for Verdi's La Traviata in Opera Holland Park, and as assistant conductor for Bizet's Carmen and Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito at the Baltic Opera. In 2023, she worked alongside Sian Edwards on Oliver Leith’s Last Days as part of the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme in collaboration with the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Artists Programme. In March 2025 she performed as part of the Ziering-Conlon Center for Exiled and Suppressed Composers—a program devoted to reviving music by composers whose careers and lives were tragically cut short by the Nazi regime in Europe, including Mieczysław Weinberg, whose work she featured in a dedicated concert that she conducted as part of the initiative. Melaniuk became the youngest semi-finalist of the 17th Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, where she conducted the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2023 she was named one of the winners of the 2023 Das Kritische Orchester, led by Forum Dirigieren and the Hanns Eisler School of Music, and was a semi-finalist of the International Conducting Competition in Rotterdam.

German-Turkish musician Mert Yalnız is recognized as one of the most compelling artistic voices of his generation. Active as a conductor, pianist, and composer, he unites technical brilliance with artistic depth and an interdisciplinary perspective. With this versatility, he is increasingly establishing himself on the international classical music stage. His performances have taken him to renowned festivals such as the Lucerne Piano Festival and Heidelberger Frühling. In 2025, he made his U.S. debut in the San Francisco Symphony’s acclaimed SoundBox series. As a pianist, Yalnız has appeared with major orchestras across Germany and developed a repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart to Gershwin and contemporary composers. He is also particularly dedicated to the music of Frederic Rzewski, performing his monumental cycle The People United Will Never Be Defeated! in distinctive interpretations. As a conductor, Yalnız has collaborated with ensembles including the Theater für Niedersachsen, the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra Wernigerode, the Pori Sinfonietta in Finland, and the Colburn Orchestra. His artistic growth has been shaped by work with distinguished conductors such as Jorma Panula, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Joana Mallwitz. Yalnız is a prizewinner of numerous awards, among them the Eduard Söring Prize, the NDR Kultur Promotion Prize, and both the Jury and Audience Prizes of the Pianale International Academy & Competition. He is currently represented by Colburn Artists, an in-house management program for Colburn students on the cusp of professional careers. 

The Colburn Orchestra, the flagship ensemble of the Colburn School’s Conservatory of Music, regularly performs throughout Southern California with esteemed guest conductors and soloists. Upcoming Colburn Orchestra performances include a performance led by Yalnız and Salonen Fellow Aleksandra Melaniuk at Zipper Hall on February 27; an LA Phil Sounds About Town series concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Saturday, March 29 under the baton of guest conductor Earl Lee; and a concert at the Fred Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks on Saturday, April 19 under the batons of Melaniuk and Music Director and Conductor Yehuda Gilad. Program details are available here.

The Colburn Orchestra is generously underwritten by Eva and Marc Stern.