Robert Kahn. Photo source: Robert Kahn’s website.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and the Solti Foundation U.S. have announced that Robert Kahn has been named assistant conductor at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the 2026-27 Season. A Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award recipient, the Dutch American conductor works with the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where he recently led Così fan tutte and prepared new productions for the company’s 2025-26 Season. Kahn completed the Conducting Fellowship at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2022, and has served as cover conductor for the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He assisted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Jaap van Zweden during the CSO’s 2025 European tour, and assisted Nézet-Séguin with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on a European tour of Die Walküre. In 2024, he made his conducting debut with California’s Marin Symphony. Highlights of 2025-26 include his European debut with the Olten Philharmonic in Izmir, Turkey, and leading Opera Philadelphia’s workshop of a newly commissioned opera. Kahn was recently named a finalist in the Great Falls Symphony’s search for a music director, and in March 2026 he makes his Dutch National Opera debut.
