List of Contestants qualified to the 11th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors

Short biographies were prepared by the contestants and are published in unchanged version.

Alexander Sinan Binder, Germany

Alexander Sinan Binder studied conducting in Düsseldorf and Zürich.

From season 2018/19 he was engaged as Kapellmeister and pianist at Lucerne Theater with Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, where he took over the position of 1st Kapellmeister in 2020/21. Furthermore, his profile as a conductor is characterized by a great amount of experience in the field of contemporary music as well as with dance.

Working as a freelance conductor since last year, guest engagements have taken him to various orchestras and festivals in Germany and abroad, including Hanover State Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Ensemble Proton Bern, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucerne Theater, Ensemble Modern, cres… biennale, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Gaudeamus Muziekweek Utrecht, ManiFeste Paris.

He is currently principal conductor and artistic director of the Abaco Orchestra Munich, and in 2021/22 he additionally worked with Ensemble Modern and led the Academy of Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt as conductor.

Joseph Bozich, United States of America

Conductor, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Bozich seeks to build shared musical experiences that connect audiences to the vast inner universe of western classical music. In April 2022 Joseph made his Symphony Hall debut in Boston, stepping in last-minute to conduct a full production of La Traviata with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Hailed as “quite musical and effective” (Classical Voice North Carolina), he currently serves as Artistic Advisor and Assistant Conductor to the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as a teaching assistant to the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. He has recently been assistant conductor with Opera Neo and the Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and appeared as a guest conductor with numerous orchestras, including the HUST Symphony Orchestra (Wuhan, China), Spectrum Orchestra, Octava Chamber Orchestra, and Lake Union Civic Orchestra. Bozich holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan.

Jacek Brzoznowski, Poland

Jacek Brzoznowski – absolwent gdańskiej Akademii Muzycznej. Studiował w klasie prof. W. Rajskiego i prof. R. J. Delekty. Zdobył I miejsce na I International Academy and Competition of Orchestra Conducting w Portugali. Finalista kilku konkursów międzynarodowych. Wraz z Cappellą Gedanensis dokonał nagrań płytowych i telewizyjnych. W 2021 roku objął kierownictwo muzyczne podczas prapremiery opery „La forza del merito” Marcella di Capua, która zrealizowana została w Filharmonii Podkarpackiej. Współpracował z Operą Bałtycką w Gdańsku oraz Operą Nova w Bydgoszczy. Występował m.in. z: Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais e Oeiras, Orkiestrą Filharmonii Morawskiej, Płocką Orkiestrą Symfoniczną, Polską Filharmonią Kameralną w Sopocie, Elbląską Orkiestrą Kameralną, Orkiestrą Kameralną Progress. Uczestniczył w wielu kursach mistrzowskich prowadzonych przez: Jose Maria Florencio, Alim Shakh, George Tchitchinadze, Nikolay Lalov, Roberto Gianola, Paweł Kotla, Jerzy Salwarowski, Rafał Jacek Delekta.

Francesco Cagnasso, Switzerland

Since 2022/23 Assistent conductor at the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Finalist at the competition Kritische Orchester Berlin 2022
From 2021 member of the Forum Dirigieren ex Deutsche Dirigenten Forum
He assisted several conductor including François Xavier Roth and Kent Nagano
He had the opportunity to receive important advices from conductors like Daniele Gatti, Tomas Netopil, Ole Kristian Ruud, Johannes Schlaefli, Kirk Trevor, Nicolás Pasquet, Pavel Baleff
Currently, he is pursuing a Master in Orchestral Conducting at the Zurich University of Arts by Prof Johannes Schläfli, Christoph Mathias Müller
2021 bachelor in orchestral orchestra conducting HfMT Hamburg
2017 master in music theory Zurich University of arts
2022 production of Im Weissen Rössl at the Fricktalerbühne in Basel
2023 he assisted and conducted “Zigeunerbaron” at the Stadttheater Sursee
He worked with professional orchestras from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Rep., Bulgaria, Greece

Jacobus De Jager, South Africa

South African conductor, Jacobus de Jager, is the most recent winner of the South African Conductors’ Competition. He has conducted ensembles such as the Cape Town Philharmonic, Mzansi National Philharmonic, Free State Symphony, Eastern Cape Philharmonic, Johannesburg Festival, and the Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra. He was also one of the eight semi-finalists of the 2023 Herbert von Karajan Conductor’s Award, where he had the opportunity to conduct the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and the Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik.

Jacobus has received conducting masterclasses from Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Marin Alsop, Leonid Grin, Kristjan Järvi, Arjan Tien, Victor Yampolsky, Daniel Raiskin, Joost Smeets, Kazim Abdulla and Xandi van Dijk. His formal conducting studies commenced in 2016 with Corvin Matei and later with Daniel Boico and Alexander Polishchuk. Jacobus was recently also one of the 16 active participants of the Järvi Academy at the 2023 Pärnu Music Festival.

Daichi Deguchi, Japan

Daichi Deguchi was born in Japan, is the 1st-prize winner of the Khachaturian International Competition 2021(Conducting) and was awarded the 2nd prize (no 1st prize was given) at the Kussewitzky International Conducting Competition, also winning the Orchestra Special Prize.
During his activity, Deguchi works regularly with numerous orchestras, such as  Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, He assisted Vladimir Jurowski at Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin in 2021. In 2016 he became music director of Ferris Youth Orchestra and worked with Japan Operetta Society as assistant conductor.
Deguchi has attended many master classes, amongst others with Sir Donald Runnicles, Paavo, Neeme and Kristian Järvi.
After graduating from the faculty of law, Daichi studied conducting at the Tokyo College of Music. He also finished his master degree at die Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin.

Radosław Droń, Poland

Absolwent Akademii Muzycznej im. Karola Lipińskiego we Wrocławiu w klasie dyrygentury prof. Marka Pijarowskiego. Swoje umiejętności kapelmistrzowskie doskonalił pod kierunkiem m.in. Marin Alsop,George Tchitchinadze, Gabriela Chmury, prof. Rafała Jacka Delekty i prof. Tadeusza Strugały. W maju 2016 r. poprowadził koncert dyplomowy w Narodowym Forum Muzyki we Wrocławiu z udziałem Orkiestry NFM Filharmonii Wrocławskiej. Dwukrotnie wybrany w programie „Dyrygent – rezydent”, w Filharmonii Sudeckiej w sezonie artystycznym 2017/2018 oraz w Toruńskiej Orkiestrze Symfonicznej w sezonie 2018/2019. W roku 2019 wraz z Orkiestrą Symfoniczną Polskiej Filharmonii “Sinfonia Baltica” nagrał płytę autorskiego projektu Leszka Kułakowskiego “Komeda Variations” na kwitnet jazzowy i orkiestrę symfoniczną. Współpracował z większością filharmonii w Polsce. Koncertował także w Niemczech, Austrii, Szwajcarii, oraz Francji. Asystent dyrygenta Filharmonii Śląskiej w Katowicach od sezonu artystycznego 2022/2023.

Antoine Dutaillis, France

Antoine Dutaillis is a french pianist, conductor and composer.
This season, he was assistant conductor to Alexandre Bloch at the Orchestre National de Lille, and to Michael Schønwandt at the French Youth Orchestra. He also assisted Alain Altinoglu in Brussels (Orchestre de la Monnaie) as well as Semyon Bychkov (Choeur et Orchestre de Paris).
In 2022, he graduated with a Master’s degree in conducting (with highest honors) at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP), with Alain Altinoglu. He also graduated with Master’s degrees in piano accompaniment, vocal coaching and composition, with highest honors, and analysis and orchestration.
He already conducted numerous orchestras in France and abroad : Ensemble Intercontemporain, Hallé Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Silesian Philharmonic, Orchestre de Metz, Strasbourg, Nancy, Montpellier, Marseille, etc. and benefited from advice of great conductors such as : Lawrence Foster, Mikko Franck, Bertrand de Billy, David Reiland, Arie Van Beek, etc.

Simon Edelmann, Germany

Simon Edelmann recently completed his Master of Music in summer 2022 with Prof. Nicolas Pasquet and Prof. Ekhart Wycik at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar. Furthermore he is supported by the „Forum Dirigieren“ (formerly „Dirigentenforum“) since 2022.
From 2020-2022 he served as Assistant Conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz.
During the past years Simon Edelmann has already worked with renowned orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Symphoniker Hamburg, the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, the Thuringia Philharmonic Orchestra Gotha-Eisenach, the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Filharmonie Hradec Kralove, the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, the Theatre Gießen and the Musikalische Komödie Leipzig.
Simon Edelmann first attracted attention in international competitions by winning the Silver Medal of the Antal Dorati International Conduction Competition in September 2021.

Samuel Emanuel, United States of America

American conductor and pianist Samuel Emanuel was born in New York in 1988. Since the 19-20 season Sam is Conductor and Repetiteur at Oper Leipzig, where he has lead the Gewandhaus Orchester in performances of L’elisir d’amore, Schneewittchen, the ballet Der kleine Prinz,  and several other productions. The upcoming season sees performances in Leipzig of Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, and Cenerentola.
After completing a BM in Piano Performance at Syracuse University, Sam received a MM in Orchestral Conducting from the Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music, where he was a pupil of Arthur Fagen and David Effron. In the summer of 2015, Sam was an apprentice coach at San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program. From December 2014 – June 2019, Sam was Korrepetitor mit Dirigierverpflichtung at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, where he worked on over 30 productions and conducted dozens of performances of repertoire staples such as Tosca, Rigoletto, Werther, Carmen and La Clemenza di Tito.

David Fernández Caravaca, Spain

Fernández Caravaca recently won the first edition of the Jeun. Mus. Spain Conducting Competition and as a result has been appointed Assistant Conductor of the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra for the next two seasons, where he will work with maestros such as Thierry Fischer, Vasily Petrenko, Juanjo Mena or Elim Chan and also with the newly created OSCyL Joven. He recently made his debut with the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla and the Orquesta de Córdoba, and in the next months he will work with the LJO Rheinland-Pfalz and will lead the production of the opera “Peter Pan” by Richard Ayres at the Staatstheater in Mainz.
April 2022 he was admitted to the Forum Dirigieren and he was appointed principal conductor of the Orquesta Joven de Córdoba. Since 2019 he studies Conducting in the class of Prof. Pasquet and Prof. Wycik at the HfM Franz Liszt in Weimar.
Before starting his conducting studies he completed a Bachelor in Viola and he is currently studying a Master in Musicology.

Kyrian Friedenberg, United States of America

24-year-old conductor Kyrian Friedenberg received international recognition when he won the prestigious Neeme Järvi Prize at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival in 2022. The 22/23 season saw him conduct the Kammerorchester Basel, l’Orchestre d’Ut Cinquième in three performances of Mahler’s 1st Symphony, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas from the harpsichord, and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Normandie. He has conducted the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, the Sinfonie-Orchester Biel Solothurn, the Noord Nederlands Orkest, the Moravska Filarmonica, l’Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire, and the Richmond Symphony.
He entered the the class of Alain Altinoglu at the Conservatoire de Paris in 2020 and has since worked with several French orchestras: the Ensemble Intercontemporain, l’Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, and l’Orchestre de Picardie. He has worked in masterclasses with Jaap van Zweden, Mikko Franck, Johannes Schlaefli, Baldur Brönnimann, Pascal Rophé, and Arie van Beek.

Maria Fuller, Canada

Canadian conductor, MARIA FULLER, is hailed as an artist of “subtle control, careful focus and thorough professionalism,” by the Chronical Journal of Thunder Bay, and as “fiery and dynamic” by The Walleye Magazine. Admired for her diversity and breadth of abilities, Maria performs internationally as a conductor, pianist, trumpeter, and is also an acclaimed vocal coach, award-winning composer, and sought after arranger. In 2019, Maria was awarded the David Effron Conducting Fellowship at the Chautauqua Institute, New York, and began a residency with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In 2021, she represented Canada in the inaugural La Maestra International Conducting Competition, Paris. Last year, Maria was awarded a fellowship with Tapestry Opera, Toronto, through whom she conducts and assists 25 organizations across Canada.
Degrees:
McGill University (Canada):
BMUS – Piano
College-Conservatory of Music (USA)
MM – Piano
AD – Operatic Coaching
MM – Orchestral Conducting

Raimonds  Gulbis,  Latvia

Born in a family of musicians, Raimonds started his studies in choir class but later picked up bassoon as a secondary speciality. Later he continued his bassoon studies in Sweden, but didn’t stop conducting. In Sweden he conducted a choir and played in orchestra. After returning to Latvia Raimonds got a position in Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and finished his studies as a bassoon player, but since he was still conducting some of the best choirs in Latvia, the urge to conduct became even stronger. It was after playing for Mariss Jansons, he made a decision to go further than choir and become a symphony orchestra conductor. He is currently studying in Jazeps Vitols Latvian academy of Music with profesor Andris Vecumnieks. During recent years he has conducted Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Riga, Lithuanian National symphony orchestra, Estonian music academy symphony orchestra and others.

Philip Hildebrand, Germany

Philip Hildebrand was admitted as a child to the Institute for the Early Advancement of the Musically Highly Gifted at the HMTM Hannover. He was student in the violin class of Prof. Petru Munteanu in Hamburg and later studied conducting in Hanover with Prof. Martin Brauß and at the Conservatorio G. Verdi in Milan.
In recent years he has conducted over 15 professional orchestras in Germany and Italy and worked as an assistant with several opera productions and symphony orchestras. He was holder of the Deutschland-Stipendium and is music director of the Neues Kammerorchester Wedding. He has also been successful in competitions, reaching the semifinals of the International Conducting Competition Louis Spohr 2019/Kassel, winning 1st prize at the International Conducting Masterclass and Competition Budapest 2019 and being a semifinalist at the “Campus Dirigieren 2022” in Cologne. He studies conducting in the Masters programme at the UdK Berlin with Prof. S. Sloane and Prof. H. Curtis.

David Jang, United States of America

Conductor David Jang began his career as Castleton Festival’s youngest apprentice conductor to late Lorin Maazel at the age of twenty.  As one of conductors personally invited by Maestro Maazel, his responsibilities included assisting with full-staged opera productions and all the orchestral performances, which culminated with sharing the podium with Maestro Maazel on stage.  Maestro Maazel has praised Mr. Jang’s conducting for “displaying verve and determination, two essential qualities for a conductor”. 

He recently completed a season as s Schmid Conducting Fellow with the Indianapolis Symphony and its music director Krzystof Ubrański.  He was also invited to compete in the 2021 Malko Competition for Young Conductors.  In recent season, Mr. Jang has assisted Giancarlo Guerrero, Krzystof Ubrański, Carl St. Clair, Osmo Vanska, Gilbert Varga, Franz Welser-Möst and Xian Zhang. 

His principal teachers include David Effron and Arthur Fagen.

Piotr Jaworski, Poland

Piotr Jaworski – chief conductor of Stadtorchester Pressbaum, first conductor of Camerata Musica Wien and quest conductor of OLES (Orchestra Sinfonica di Lecce e di Salento) and OFP (Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese). Currently studying his final year at the Music University in Vienna (mdw) in the class of Andrès Orozco-Estrada (orchestral conducting) and Andreas Hennig (opera accompaniment). His previous conducting professors are Johannes Wildner and Maciej Tworek. He has also recently finished his PhD studies at K. Penderecki Academy of Music in Cracow under the guidance of Piotr Machnik.
P. Jaworski has already conducted many orchestras, including: Sinfonietta Cracovia, Chamber Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Krakow, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese, Orchestra di Lecce e di Salento, Krakow Philharmonic, Camerata Musica Wien, Webern Sinfonietta, Webern Kammerphilharmonie, Pro Arte Orchestra, Stadtorchester Pressbaum, Jugendphilharmonie Brandenburg.

Sukjong Kim, South Korea

Sukjong Kim was born in 1992 in South Korea, and She recently belong to the Dirigentenforum 2022 and was a finalist in a critical orchestra.
Sukjong Kim became a musical assistant in Rüdiger Bohn at the European Workshop for Contemporary Music 2022.
In January 2022, Marin Alsop took masterclass to Hamburg.
She is studying in the seventh semester Bachelor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg (Hamburg University of Music and Drama)in the conducting class by Prof. Ulrich Windfuhr.In August 2021,Sukjong was  invited to the International Conducting Competition in Bucharest (JM International Conducting Competition 2021) and was the semifinalist. In addition, Sukjong was invited to the Jeunesse Musicales Conducting Masterclass by Christian Ehwald and Sigmund Thorp with the Royal Camerata Orchestra in Bucharest in August 2021. She also participated in the International Mendelsohn festival in 2019 and collaborated with the Hamburg Symphonic Orchestra and the Hamburg Camerata GmbH.

Roman Kreslenko, Ukraine

Kreslenko Roman
Conductor of a symphony orchestra and opera.
– From September 2022  conductor of INSO-Lviv (International Symphony Orchestra, Lviv National Philharmonic)
– From 2022 conductor of “LUMOS” orchestra
– From September 2013.  The artistic director and conductor of the symphony orchestra National University “Lviv Polytechnic” and the chamber orchestra “Polyphony” National University “Lviv Polytechnic”.
– From 2016 conductor of KLK Symphony Orchestra
– From 2017 assistant conductor of  Lviv Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
– From September 2022  Lviv State Music Lyceum named after S. Krushelnytska, chief conductor
Education:
2008-2013 . – Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, faculty of Culture and Arts
2012-2013.  – KlK conductor mastercours/ Ferdinando Nazzaro.
2013-2019  – Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy.
 Competition:
1. Turchak conductors competition. (2017)
2. Princess Astrid International Music Competition. (2022)

Łukasz Ksobiraj, Poland

Łukasz KSOBIRAJ (ur. 1994 )
 dyrygent 

Absolwent Akademii Muzycznej im. I. J. Paderewskiego. Kształcił się u takich pedagogów jak: prof. AM Jerzy Kosek, prof. AMP Przemysław Neumann oraz prof. Warcisław Kunc.
Jest laureatem I nagrody na VII Ogólnopolskim Konkursie Młodych Dyrygentów w Białymstoku oraz III nagrody na III Ogólnopolskim Konkursie Studentów Dyrygentury im. Adama Kopycińskiego we Wrocławiu.
Współpracował z takimi zespołami jak: Orkiestra Akademii Muzycznej w Poznaniu, Filharmonia Dolnośląska w Jeleniej Górze, Filharmonia Sudecka w Wałbrzychu,  Filharmonia Szczecińska, Filharmonia Poznańska, Filharmonia Opolska, Filharmonia Koszalińska, Filharmonia Krakowska, Polska Orkiestra Sinfonia Iuventus im. Jerzego Semkowa, Toruńska Orkiestra Symfoniczna, Orkiestra Akademii Beethovenowskiej czy zespół Sepia Ensamble. Współprowadził prawykonanie Symfonii na 104 perkusistów Marty Ptaszyńskiej na 45 Festiwalu „Poznańska Wiosna Muzyczna”.

Flávio Lago Perucci, Brazil

Flávio Lago began his piano studies at the age of 13 and received his Bachelor degree in Conducting at the São Paulo State University. He had lessons with conductors such as Claudio Cruz, Wagner Polistchuk, Alexander Liebreich, Marin Alsop, Arvo Volmer, Ludovic Morlot, Anja Bihlmaier, Neil Thomson and Uros Lajovic. He was also able to assist conductors such as Marin Alsop, Thierry Fischer and Sir Richard Armstrong.
In 2014 he joined the Opera Academy of Theatro São Pedro, in São Paulo, and became, from 2016, part of its ensemble. In 2017 he made this debut in Amazonas Opera Festival with a production of Adriana Lecouvreur. Since then, he has worked in over 20 opera productions. In 2022 and 2023, he was part of the conducting class at the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra Academy and has collaborated, since then, with the orchestra. In 2023 he was appointed artistic director of the Chamber Orchestra ALMAI-SP.

William Lai, Hong Kong

Hailing from Hong Kong, William Lai is the artistic director and founder of the Gramophone Orchestra. Celebrated for his insightful interpretation of both symphonic and operatic works, William’s most notable recent collaborations include Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra, Pleven Philharmonic, and Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra. Recently, he made performances with the NDR Radiophilharmonie and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. In 2021, he won public acclaim by leading performances of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto with the Alte Musik Institut Hannover on the cembalo. In 2020, he shared the stage with the Chopin International Piano Competition winner Colleen Lee.

Gyuseong Lee, South Korea

Gyuseong Lee studied Conducting and Choral Conducting in Seoul and Nürnberg. he was a semi-finalist on the 3rd Nino Rota International Conducting Competition, the 10th Fitelberg International Conducting Competition, the 1st European Union International Conducting Competition and the 10th Bucharest International Conducting Competition.
 Gyuseong Lee conducted numerous orchestras, including Nürnberg Philharmoniker, Nürnberg Symphoniker, Philharmonie Orchestra Cottbus, Bad Reichenhaller Philharmonie, West Bohemian Orchestra Marienbad, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim, Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gyunggi Philharmonic Orchestra in Suwon. He was Principal Conductor at Albercht Dürer Symphoniker Nürnberg, Assistent Conductor at Hans-Sachs-Chor Nürnberg, and Chorassistent/Korrepetitor in International Opera Studio by Staatstheater Nürnberg. He works currently at the Staatstheater Cottbus as Solorepetitior mit Dirigierverpflichtung and GMD Assistent from 2020.

Haoran Li, China

Haoran Li, appointed principal conductor of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra in 2023, gained international recognition as a first-prize winner at the 5th International Conducting Competition “Jeunesses Musicales” in Bucharest. Later, he swept coveted prizes at prestigious competitions, such as The 4th Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in Paris, the 56th Besançon International Conducting Competition, and The Rachmaninoff International Music Competition.
Over the last few seasons and years, Haoran has had great success conducting orchestras such as Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, The Royal Danish Orchestra, The Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic, The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and many others.
He consecutively graduated from Beijing Central Conservatory of Music and Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler”
As assistant conductor, he has worked with Manfred Honeck, Charles Dutoit , Christoph Eschenbach, and Long Yu.

John Lidfors, United States of America

John Lidfors is an American conductor who has made debuts at the Berlin Philharmonie and Vienna Musikverein concert halls. He won third prize at the 2nd Arthur Nikisch International Conducting Competition and was a finalist in the 2019 CSO Sir Georg Solti Conducting Competition as well as the winner of the 2021 German Choral Conductor’s Prize. Before his tenure as assistant conductor of the Bochumer Symphoniker he founded the Orchester Ventuno, winning awards for his contributions to the Nuremberg music scene.

Orchestras he has performed with include the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Bochumer Symphoniker, Magdeburgische Philharmonie, and the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt.

John Lidfors studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and at the Berlin University of the Arts. He further refined his artistry at the Aspen Conducting Academy, the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy and at the Fitelberg International Conducting Masterclass.

Abuzar Manafzade, Azerbaijan

Abuzar Manafzade is a young multi-talented Azerbaijani artist; conductor, pianist and composer. He started his musical journey at age seven and in 2020 earn a Master’s Degree in Piano from the Anton Bruckner Private University, Prof. Oleg Marshev’s class.

In 2022, he became the first Azerbaijani to complete a five-year Diploma program in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts of Vienna. Manafzade studied under renowned conductor Prof. Dr. Johannes Wildner and led prestigious orchestras like the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra etc.

With 18 international piano competition prizes, he has performed in countries such as Austria, Germany, USA, and Uzbekistan and many others. Attending masterclasses by renowned artists like Andres Orozco-Estrada, Marin Alsop, enriched his development as a pianist and conductor.

Based in Vienna, Abuzar Manafzade continues to captivate audiences globally as a pianist, conductor, and composer.

Mauro Mariani, Italy

Mauro Mariani is a young Italian conductor currently studying with Prof. Nicolás Pasquet at the Hochschule Franz Liszt in Weimar. He is the music director of the Orchestre Universitaire de Strasbourg (France) and the Akademische Orchester Magdeburg (Germany).

Mauro has attended masterclasses with musicians such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Riccardo Muti, Renée Fleming, Paavo Järvi, Ton Koopman, Péter Eötvös or Heinrich Schiff and regularly conducts orchestras such as the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Staatskapelle Weimar, Ensemble Modern, BBC Scottish Symphony, Turku Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Jenaer Philharmonie, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Ars Nova, Divertimento Ensemble, Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina.
2023 he was invited to the Accademia Chigiana with Daniele Gatti and for the 3rd time as a Conducting Fellow to the Aspen Music Festival in the US as the winner of the James Conlon Conductor Prize.
2024 he will lead a production of Carmen with the stage director Philippe Arlaud.

Aleksandra Melaniuk, Poland

-graduated from the I. Paderewski AM (class of Mo Yaroslav Shemet)
-Britten-Pears Young Artist for the 23/24 season
-semi-finalist of 17th Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, with London Symphony Orchestra
-finalist of Das Kritische Orchester, led by Forum Dirigieren
-active participant of Jarvi Conducting Academy ’22; Norwegian Dirigentuka; Forum Dirigieren’s SOV Masterclasses
-finalist of the auditions for:  Leverhulme Conducting Fellowship with the BBC SSO, Constant Lambert Fellowship/Jetta Parker Conductor with Royal Opera House, Female Conductor Traineeship with Opera North;
-active participant of Fiskars Summer Festival ‘23
-learned from: Paavo & Neeme Jarvi, Johannes Schlaefli, Nicolas Pasquet, Sian Edwards, Dalia Stasevska, Johannes Wildner
-’21: established own orchestra to promote British music
-conducted: Flanders Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symfoniorkester, Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Lithuanian State Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic, Silesian Philharmonic, and others

Mikhail Mering, Israel

Mikhail Mering is Israeli conductor and clarinetist.

Mikhail played as a clarinetist in many prestigious halls in Russia, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Japan, Denmark, Israel, USA, France, etc.
Mikhail Mering is an Artist of Buffet Crampon and Vandoren.
As a conductor, Mikhail Mering performed with a famous orchestras as Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta Orchestra etc.
In 2021 Mikhail Mering became a semi-finalist of Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting.
In  2022 Mikhail Mering was appointed assistant maestro Evan Rogister (principal conductor of Washington National Opera) in a joint production of Metropolitan Opera  and Bolshoi Theater of the opera Lohengrin by Richard Wagner.
in March 2023 Mikhail Mering won the 3rd prize in 2nd Hong Kong International Conducting Competition.
Mikhail Mering lives in Israel and works at Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion and Israeli Opera

Eu Lee Nam, South Korea

Eu-Lee Nam is a South Korean conductor and pianist. She is the music director of Münchner Mandolinen-Zirkel.

She is the winner of conducting prize at Internationale Sommerakademie Radolfzell 2021 voted by the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie.
In concerts and rehearsals, she recently conducted the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cottbus State Orchestra, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Symphonic Orchestra, the Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Stattsorchester Gärtnerplatz, Munich Symphony Orchestra. In April 2022 she was assistant conductor of Theater Everding in Munich.

She currently studies her master orchestra conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Prof. Marcus Bosch and Prof. Georg Fritzsch. 2017-2021 she studied her bachelor in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns-Eisler” with Prof. Christian Ehwald. She holds bachelor degree for piano performance as well.

Szymon Naściszewski, Poland

Szymon Naściszewski – skrzypek i dyrygent. Obecnie student dyplomowego roku w klasie dyrygentury symfonicznej Łukasza Borowicza w Akademii Muzycznej im. Krzysztofa Pendereckiego w Krakowie.
Budując swoją reputację jako obiecujący dyrygent młodego pokolenia w sezonie artystycznym 2022/23 został laureatem programu stypendialnego NIMiT Dyrygent – rezydent, w ramach którego podjął współpracę z PFK Sopot pod opieką artystyczną Wojciecha Rajskiego. W trakcie studiów zdobywał doświadczenie podczas projektów asystenckich w czołowych polskich orkiestrach filharmonicznych (Łódź, Gdańsk, Szczecin, Poznań, Białystok), współpracując m. in. z Łukaszem Borowiczem, Paulem McCreeshem, Rafałem Janiakiem, Michałem Klauzą, Pawłem Przytockim. Na scenie debiutował z Filharmonią Krakowską, Filharmonią Podkarpacką oraz Elbląską Orkiestrą Kameralną. Brał czynny udział w warsztatach dyrygenckich z Marin Alsop oraz NOSPR, był także finalistą przesłuchań na dyrygenta-asystenta Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie.

Deniz Oliveira Erdinç, Brazil

Born into a family of musicians, Deniz Oliveira Erdinç began studying violin, cello and piano at an early age.He was accepted into Bilkent University Music Faculty’s piano department, where he studied under the tutelage of Gülnara Aziz, for 8 years. After the end of his piano studies, the artist was awarded a scholarship by TEV (Turkish Education Foundation) to study conducting and harmony in the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris in 2017. During this time, he also became Artist-in-Residence in the Cité Internationale des Arts, creating and assuming music directorship of an orchestra in the institution. After his studies in Paris, he became Assistant Conductor to Maestro Işın Metin in the Bilkent Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ankara; simultaneously earning a second masters degree on orchestral conducting in Bilkent University’s Faculty of Music. As of the 2022-23 season, Deniz Oliveira Erdinç continues his career as a conductor in the Ankara State Opera and Ballet.

Joonas Pitkänen, Finland

Joonas Pitkänen is a charismatic young Finnish conductor based in Basel, Switzerland. He was principal conductor of Monferrato Classic Orchestra in Italy and is currently principal conductor of Akademisches Orchester Freiburg in Germany. Pitkänen won 1st prize ex aequo in Cítta de Brescia – Giancarlo Facchinetti conducting competition in 2023. His upcoming engagements include debuts with Helsinki Philharmonic, Hradec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra and Camerata Zürich. He has appeared as guest conductor of the Kammerorchester Basel, Slovak Chamber Orchestra, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz and Turku Philharmonic, among others. He was handpicked to LEAD! Foundations Excellence Platform for Young Artists where he is being closely mentored by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Pitkänen also acts as Artistic Director of Finnish concert series Feeling blue & white in Basel. Pitkänen studied conducting with Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mark Stringer and Ulrich Windfuhr, among others.

Alexander Prior, United Kingdom

Prior, UK-Canada, is Chief Conductor of Oper Erfurt and before that was Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony, appointed at age 22. The Edmonton Journal said: “He has brought the orchestra to a new level of playing, eliciting a true pianissimo from the strings, new shadings of phrasing, & greater depth of feeling.”

Collaborations including San Francisco, Detroit, Seattle, Queensland, and Houston Symphonies; Teatro Reál, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen etc.

Operas include MIRANDOLINA at Bayerische Staatsoper, TRAVIATA with Oper Leipzig and Gewandhaus, CARMEN at Royal Danish Opera, and ELEKTRA at Edmonton Opera, RIGOLETTO & JULIETTA at Oper Frankfurt. After RIGOLETTO at Staatsoper Braunschweig, the orchestra awarded him the prestigious ‘Louis-Spohr-Medal’.

At just 17 Alex became Assistant Conductor at the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Alex believes in the power of music to bring us together, build compassion and understanding for humanity.

Andris Rasmanis, Latvia

Andris Rasmanis is a Latvian conductor, based in Riga. He completed his Orchestra Conducting Master Degree with distinction from the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, after conducting the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.
During his education in Vienna Rasmanis studied Orchestra Conducting under Uroš Lajovic, Opera Conducting under Konrad Leitner and Choir Conducting under Erwin Ortner. Furthermore, he received important impulses in masterclasses with Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Bertrand de Billy, Ralf Weikert, Toby Purser, Karolos Trikolidis, Achim Holub, Karl Anton Rickenbacher.
During his career Rasmanis has conducted such orchestras as the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, the Meininger Hofkapelle and other orchestras.

Joseph Sieber, Switzerland

Already in his early twenties, Joseph Sieber, as founder and Artistic Director of Switzerland’s most visible Youth Orchestra (Zentralschweizer Jugendsinfonieorchester ZJSO) as well as of the internationally acclaimed music theater project “Verona 3000”, has brought together hundreds of young musicians and cultural figures from all over Switzerland, performing for thousands of audiences at home and abroad every year. His initial studies in piano, composition and music theory were followed by conducting studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (UK), from which he graduated with high distinction, conducting the BBC Philharmonic in concert. In addition to his doctorate and assistant conductor position at Arizona State University, he will be Conducting Fellow at the Lucerne Festival and the Cabrillo Festival in the summer of 2023.

Sergey  Simakov,  Germany

Sergey Simakov is a russian-born german conductor. 2015 he was awarded the 1st prize at the Conducting Competition Jeunesses Musicales Bucharest; 2017 was among three Semi-Finalists of the Cadaques Conducting Competition. He worked as an Assistant Conductor at the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie; at the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz (2012/13). 2016 Sergey was Music Director at the „Oper Oder-Spree“ festival; 2018/19 he was guest conductor at the State Opera House Cottbus. Sergey is artistic director of Giraud Ensemble Chamber Orchestra Zürich. Giraud Ensemble released recording of Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire”for ZHdK-Records, CD recording with works by Gulda, Poulenc and Prokofiev for SONY. 2022 Sergey conducted the production of Rigoletto at the Theater Ulm. He has appeared with orchestras including the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Nord Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philarmonique de Strasbourg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin.

Eric Staiger, Germany

Eric Staiger is principal conductor of the KHG Orchestra Freiburg. He has worked with orchestras such as the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, Bern Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Schwerin, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Janáčkova filharmonie Ostrava and the Stavanger Symfoniorkester, and is a regular guest conductor of the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig.

He has been encouraged by the most renowned conducting teachers in Europe, studying conducting with Nicolás Pasquet in Weimar and spending time studying abroad in Zurich with Johannes Schlaefli and Oslo with Ole Kristian Ruud. He also received impulses in master classes with Jorma Panula, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and James Gaffigan. As a sought-after assistant, he works in both opera and symphony at home and abroad.

Growing up in Lübeck, he began to learn the violin at an early age, studied jazz piano in Hamburg, performed at numerous international festivals and received many awards.

Joanna Natalia Ślusarczyk, Poland

Joanna Natalia Slusarczyk is the winner of the 2nd Prize, Echo Prize and French Concert Halls Prize at La Maestra Competition (Paris 2022); 1st Prize at the London Conducting Competition (2018); 2nd Prize at the Jeunesses Musicales Competition (Bucharest 2018); 3rd Prize at the 1st EU Conducting Competition (Sofia 2018). In 2019 she was selected to the Mentoring Program with Peter Eötvös (Budapest 2020/21). She received from maestro D. Gatti the Main Prize of Rotary Club Siena during Chigiana Festival in Italy (2019). She is a conducting fellow in the TACF Mentoring Program and La Maestra Academy. Majoring in Symphonic and Opera Conducting in the class of maestro Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, graduated with honors from the Academy of Music in Katowice. She worked with Orchestre de Paris, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orchestre National de Bordeaux, Metz, Cannes, Opéra de Tours. In 2019 she got the Main Prize of the Krakow county for outstanding artistic achievements.

Tatsuma  Takahashi,  Japan

Was born in Yokosuka City, Japan in 1989, and took his first piano lessons at the age of four. When he was 12, he became a member of a junior high school orchestra, playing the cello, which led him to conducting. In 2008, he enrolled in the Conducting Division of the Tokyo University of the Arts Faculty of Music. He was a Rohm Music Foundation conducting trainee in 2010, and a Meiji Yasuda Cultural Foundation scholarship student in 2011. In 2012, he graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts, achieving the Acanthus, Doseikai and Ataka Awards. He has been living in Berlin since 2016, where he studied at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. He has studied orchestral conducting under Christian Ehwald, Alexander Vitlin, Ivan Anguélov, Tadaaki Otaka, Ken Takaseki, Seiji Ozawa, Yuji Yuasa, Tatsuya Shimono, Neeme Jarvi, Paavo Jarvi, Jorma Panula, Douglas Bostock and Riccardo Muti.

Kornel Thomas, United States of America

Kornel Thomas is an award-winning conductor and composer. He won 2nd Prize at the 2022 Bartok World Composer Competition, 2nd Prize at the 5th Zodiac International Music Composer Competition, two prizes at the 2020 MUPA Composer Competition, 2nd Prize at the 2018 Opera Nice Conducting Competition and 3rd Prize at the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conductors Competition.
He is a recurring guest conductor with the Hungarian State Opera and Ballet, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Dohnányi Orchestra Budafok, and Savaria Symphony Orchestra. Work with other professional ensembles include Argovia Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Győr Philharmonic, MAV Symphony Orchestra, Miskolc Symphony Orchestra, Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, and ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was assistant conductor of Savaria Symphony Orchestra from 2017-2020. He studied conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and composition at the St. Stephen King Conservatory Budapest.

Andrej Vesel, Croatia

Andrej Vesel, Croatian conductor/pianist
graduated piano with Vladimir Krpan 2015; first price national chamber music competition; Rector’s „special  award“; studies in orchestral conducting with Johannes Wildner at the Vienna University of Music; graduation with distinction June 2022; also choir conducting with Alois Glaßner; Erasmus at Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi Milano with Vittorio Parisi; Master classes: Marin Alsop, Riccardo Chailly, Peter Eötvos, Uroš Lajovic, Andres Oroszco-Estrada, Nicolas Pasquet, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Alexander Vedernikov, Daniel Oren ect. Assistant at “Burg Gars Opera” and jOPERA at Schloß Tabor;
Scholarships: “Ernst von Siemens Private Foundation”,“Czibulka Foundation”,“Lovro von Matačić Foundation”.
Since 2022 stipendiary of the „Hans Swarowsky Akademie“ with Manfred Huss;
Regular concerts with “Filasteen Young Musicians Orchestra” (“Barenboim-Said”), Bad Reichenhall Philharmoniker, Slovenian Radio Symphony, Braşov  Oradea, Sibiu and Satu Mare Filarmonica

Anastasiia Vrublevska, Ukraine

Anastasiia Vrublevska – Ukrainian conductor.
She received her education at the Odesa National Academy of Music (choral conducting) and at the K.Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków (symphonic-opera conducting).
Vrublevska actively works in both the symphonic and opera repertoire. She conducted several concerts with Kraków Philharmonic, Poznań Philharmonic, Zielona Góra Philharmonic. As a music director she prepared the premiere of “The Medium” by G.C.Menotti in Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet Theatre. She is a founder of the Orchestra “Operatorium”, with which she prepared number of operas and oratorios.
She took part in conducting courses with Marin Alsop in NOSPR (Poland), Rafał Jacek Delekta with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, in Opera Workshops at the Krakow Opera. She assisted Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Opera Festival “Rossini in Wildbad”.
Currently she is a conductor of the two Youth Symphony Orchestras in Dębica and Tarnów (Poland).

Drummado Wijnhamer, Netherlands

Drummado Wijnhamer is a Dutch conductor who is currently studying at the Conservatory of Amsterdam under the guidance of Antony Hermus, Ed Spanjaard, Karel Deseure, and Bas Wiegers. From October 2023 he will study at the Universität der Künste (Berlin) with Steven Sloane and Harry Curtis.

With the Dutch National Opera Academy, he has done Carmen and Hänsel und Gretel and two contemporary operas during the Opera Forward Festival in Amsterdam. He recently performed a production of La Voix Humaine with the Conservatory of Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. In August 2023 he will participate in the Saluzzo Opera Academy (Suor Angelica).

Besides having assisted his own teachers, he was also the assistant of Ryan Bancroft and Martin Sieghart.

In June 2022 he graduated as a violinist from the Royal Conservatoire (Den Haag). From 2019 until 2022 he was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands.

CJ Wu, Taiwan

CJ Wu is a dynamic and dramatic young conductor, with a background as a professional violinist in her native Taiwan. In recent years she has enjoyed great success in being invited to major competitions and masterclasses including the inauguralInternational Conducting Competition Rotterdam, Guido Cantelli Conducting Competition, Riccardo Muti Opera Academy and Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Daniele Gatti). Järvi Academy and the Britten Pears Young Artist Conducting Academy (Antonio Pappano),
In December 2021 CJ was selected by Riccardo Muti to participate in his Opera Academy, working on Nabucco for a concert performance at Fondazione Prada in Milan. She was then invited at very short notice to stand in for an indisposed Muti at further performances in Ravenna and Rimini with Orchestre Giovanile Luigi Cherubini and Coro Cremona Antiqua. In 2022-2024 season, She will work with Copenhagen Philharmonic, Aalborg Symphony, Aarhus Symphony, and Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark.

Jong-Jie Yin, China

Jong-Jie Yin was born in 2000. In 2021, he won the “Mention Spéciale award” of the 57th Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors (Grand Prize Vacancy).
Since 2015, Yin has been selected to attend masterclasses from Yannick Nezét-Séguin, N. Järvi, J-P Saraste, Myung-Whun Chung, E-P Salonen and M. Pijarowski. Moreover, he played an active role in a number of music festivals, such as Besançon International Music Festival, Shanghai International Arts Festival and Beijing Modern Music Festival.
The last few Seasons, He successfully conducted Orchestre National de Lyon, Enescu Phil, Lublin Phil, China National Symphony Orchestra, China NCPA Orchestra, China National Opera House, Hangzhou Phil, etc.
On August 2022, Yin was selected as one of the “10 Outstanding Young Conductors” in Beijing. This national event was held by the Art Department of the Ministry of Culture.
Yin is now living in Beijing, attending Central Conservatory of Music and having Ms. Chen Lin as his Mentor.

Fanye Yuan, China

Yuan began his musical study as a pianist. From 2016, he started studying with professor Alvin Chow in Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Yuan became interested on the field of orchestral conducting while studying in Oberlin Conservatory of Music. During the college years he studied with the music director of Oberlin Orchestra Dr. Raphael Jiménez. Yuan frequently rehearsed with student orchestras in Oberlin, also performing new music in co-operation with the Oberlin composition department. Yuan has conducted several professional orchestras including Savaria Symphony Orchestra in Hungary; Lyatoshinsky Ensemble in Kyiv, Ukraine; Cottbus Symphony Orchestra in Germany; And Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra in Czech Republic. He went to masterclasses taught by conductors Jorma Panula, Nicolas Pasquet and Johannes Schläfli. Beginning from October 2022, Yuan started his conducting study in Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin under the guidance of professors Alexander Vitlin and Markus Stenz.

Xiao  Zhuo,  China

—In 2017, was admitted to the Conducting Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. —In 2018/2019 :was twice a scholarship holder at the International Conducting Master Classes of Professor Jorma Panula. —with Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Orchester of Theater Cottbus, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra, Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, Macao Chinese Orchestra, worked together on the projects. — In 2021 and 2022, assisted as répétiteur under Robin Ticciati with William Walton’s THE BEAR, as conductor she assisted with Maurice Ravel’s L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGE. — In April 2023, as musical director, she conducted the contemporary chamber opera LOVELEASE by Germán Alsonso at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. — In May 2023, she conducted the clarinet concerto from Lindberg with Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin.