Johnson is a doctoral student at the University of Chicago and the former assistant conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. She will get the opportunity to lead the U.K.'s Bournemouth Symphony and the Colorado Symphony under Alsop's tutelage in March and April 2006. Alsop is music director of the Bournemouth Symphony and conductor laureate of the Colorado Symphony.

"It is a privilege to be in a position to impact the lives of aspiring women conductors," said Alsop, who will become music director of the Baltimore Symphony in 2007. "Based on personal experience, I can clearly see what is needed to assist emerging conductors in the pursuit of their dreams and want to make the road easier and more rewarding for them."

Previous winners of the fellowship are Laura Jackson, currently an American Symphony Orchestra League Conducting Fellow with the Atlanta Symphony, and Carolyn Kuan, the assistant conductor of the North Carolina Symphony.