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German-born conductor Erina Yashima is the Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Yashima has been in this role since September 2019, where she assists Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as well as other guest conductors, and leads The Philadelphia Orchestra in a variety of different concert programs.

As a rising star in the industry, Yashima has performed all over the world with acclaimed ensembles and orchestras. Recent highlights include her debut at the Arena di Verona and her return to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Rostov State Philharmonic, and at the Colorado Music Festival. This 2021-22 season and beyond will see Yashima’s debuts with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, Albany Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Niederrheinische Sinfoniker, among others. On the opera platform, Yashima will conduct a new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte in her debut with the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, and lead a production of Rusalka at the Theater Krefeld und Mönchengladbach.

Since 2015, Yashima has been studying with Riccardo Muti. As winner of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Sir Georg Solti Conducting Apprenticeship, Yashima assisted Maestro Muti and worked closely with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. During this period, Yashima collaborated with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and assisted conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christoph Eschenbach, and Edward Gardner.

In opera, Yashima made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2017 with a production of Der Schauspieldirektor for children. She conducted Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in Novara and Ravenna in February 2019, and Rossini’s La Cenerentola, both in 2017 in Lucca and again in 2018 in Piacenza with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra. At the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, Yashima served as répétiteur with conducting duties, leading performances of My Fair Lady .

As one of the three finalists of the prestigious Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award, Yashima performed with the Camerata Salzburg at the Salzburg Festival 2018. In November of the same year she was as assistant conductor to Zubin Mehta and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra. Other orchestras that Yashima has performed with include the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Transylvania State Philharmonic of Cluj-Napoca, Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt (Oder), and Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo.

In 2015, Yashima was an active participant of the Italian Opera Academy in Ravenna, working with Riccardo Muti on Verdi’s Falstaff, as well as in Bernard Haitink’s masterclass at the Lucerne Festival. Yashima was a finalist at the INTERAKTION workshop, leading musicians from Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin and Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, amongst others.

As a pre-college piano student of Bernd Goetzke, Yashima began her musical studies at the Institute for the Early Advancement of the Musically Highly Gifted (IFF) in her hometown of Hannover and had her first conducting lessons at the age of 14. After studying conducting in Freiburg with Scott Sandmeier, and in Vienna with Mark Stringer, she completed her studies at the Hanns Eisler School of Music, Berlin under the guidance of Christian Ehwald and Hans-Dieter Baum.

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) is a place like nowhere else, powered by performance, its people, and their passion. Established in 1847 and celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2022, RCS is consistently recognised as a global leader in performing arts education (currently ranked as one of the world’s top three performing arts education institutions by the QS World University Rankings).
With students from more than 50 countries, specialist staff and active partnerships with all of Scotland’s national arts companies, RCS is a centre of performance offering a learning environment which encourages students to create new work, collaborate with peers across disciplines and develop innovative ideas and grow into artists the world needs.

RCS graduates are resourceful, highly employable and members of a dynamic community of artists who make a significant impact across the globe.

At RCS, students develop not just their art but their power to use it.

Simon Trpčeski has been praised not only for his powerful virtuosity and deeply expressive approach, but also for his charismatic stage presence.

Launched onto the international scene twenty years ago as a BBC New-Generation Artist, in an incredibly fast-paced career that encompass no cultural or musical boundaries, Simon Trpčeski has collaborated with over a hundred orchestras on four continents, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Deutsche Sinfonie Orchester Berlin and Dresden Philharmonic, while In North America, he is a frequent soloist with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Los Angeles and New-York Philharmonic, and the San Francisco, St. Louis, Seattle, and Baltimore Symphonies. Further afield, he has he has performed with the New Japan, Seoul, and Hong Kong Philharmonics, and the Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, and New Zealand Symphonies.

A much sought-after soloist, the long list of prominent conductors Simon Trpčeski works with includes Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Cristian Măcelaru, Charles Dutoit, Jakob Hrusa, Vladimir Jurowski, Susanna Malkki, Andris Nelsons, Antonio Pappano, Vasily Petrenko, Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, and David Zinman. He has a particularly long-standing relationship with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, further strengthened during the tenure of Vassily Petrenko. Together, they have recorded the monuments of the Russian piano repertoire, all four Rachmaninov piano concertos as well as the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, for Avie, the two Tchaikovsky piano concertos and most recently Prokofiev piano concertos no. 1 and 3 for Onyx Classics.

An acclaimed recitalist, Simon Trpčeski has performed in major halls in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, Prague, Hamburg, Bilbao, Istanbul, Dublin, and Tokyo. Since his debut at Wigmore Hall in 2001, he has remained a regular guest of this prestigious venue, including a Residency in 2018, and with two recitals released on the Wigmore Live label. In chamber music, Simon Trpčeski regularly partners cellist Daniel Müller-Schott, and regularly appears as a chamber musician in festivals such as Aspen, Verbier, Risor, Bergen, and the Baltic Sea Festival

A natural music explorer, Simon Trpčeski is also committed to strengthening the cultural image of his native Macedonia. His latest chamber music project Makedonissimo is dedicated to introducing audiences world-wide to the rich traditional Macedonian folk roots. With the collaboration of composer Pande Shahov, it weaves into one unique sound world, the Macedonian folk music tradition with highly virtuoso, jazz-influenced riffs and harmonies. Since its successful premiere in Germany at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, the project has travelled to Slovenia, UK, Poland, The Netherlands, France, Serbia, Montenegro and Romania with future performances scheduled in Russia, New Zealand and Australia.

Simon Trpčeski’s fruitful collaborations with EMI Classics, Avie Records, Wigmore Hall Live, Onyx Classics, and currently Linn Records has resulted in a broad and award-winning discography. His natural affinity with Russian composers of the 19th and 20th century is featured in seven CDs presenting works by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Scriabine, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. He has also recorded the music of Chopin, Brahms, Poulenc, Bach, Liszt and Debussy. His debut album received both the “Editor’s Choice” and “Debut Album” prizes at the Gramophone Awards in 2002. His Rachmaninov concerto cycle in 2010 and 2011 was Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” and also received a Diapason d’Or. The Wigmore Live CD of 2012 was The Telegraph “Classical CD of the Week.”

With the special support of KulturOp — Macedonia’s leading cultural and arts organization — Simon Trpčeski works regularly with young musicians in Macedonia nurturing the talent of the next generation of artists. In 2009, he received the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia, a decoration given to foreign and domestic dignitaries responsible for the affirmation of Macedonia abroad. In 2011, he became the first-ever recipient of the title “National Artist of Macedonia.”

Born in Macedonia in 1979, Simon Trpčeski is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, where he studied with Boris Romanov. He was BBC New Generation Artist 2001-2003 and in 2003, was honoured with the Young Artist Award by the Royal Philharmonic Society.

James Conlon, one of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic, and choral repertoire. Since his 1974 debut with the New York Philharmonic, he has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and videography, numerous writings, television appearances and guest speaking engagements, Mr. Conlon is one of classical music’s most recognized figures.

Mr. Conlon is Music Director of LA Opera, where since 2006 he has led more performances than any other conductor in the company’s history—to date, more than 400 performances of over 60 different operas. This season he conducts Verdi’s Il Trovatore , Wagner’s Tannhäuser ; Verdi’s Aida , and a ballet adaptation of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion . He is also Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He has been Principal Conductor of the Paris Opera; General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany, where he was Music Director of both the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and the Cologne Opera; Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and Principal Conductor of the Orchestra Nazionale Della RAI in Torino, Italy. He has served as Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony; and is now Music Director Laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival, where he was Music Director for 37 years. As a guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, he has led more than 270 performances since his 1976 debut.

In an effort to call attention to lesser-known works of composers silenced by the Nazi regime, Mr. Conlon has devoted himself to extensive programming of this music throughout Europe and North America. For his efforts, he was awarded the Roger E. Joseph Prize at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (2013); a Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League (2007); and the Zemlinsky Prize (1999). His work on behalf of suppressed composers led to the creation of The OREL Foundation and the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School.

Mr. Conlon is an enthusiastic advocate of public scholarship and cultural institutions as forums for the exchange of ideas and inquiry into the role music plays in our shared humanity and civic life. At LA Opera, his immensely popular pre-performance talks draw upon musicology, literary studies, history, and social sciences to contemplate the enduring power and relevance of opera, and classical music in general. His appearances throughout the country as a speaker on a variety of cultural and educational topics are widely praised.

Mr. Conlon’s extensive discography can be found on the Bridge, Capriccio, Decca, EMI, Erato and Sony Classical labels; and his recordings of LA Opera productions including Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles released on PentaTone and Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny on EuroArts have received four Grammy® awards. Mr. Conlon was named Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, and Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. In 2002, he received France’s highest honor, the Legion d’Honneur from then-President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac.

Jess Gillam is celebrated as a leading figure of the saxophone. With her electrifying performances, vibrant stage presence and magnetic personality, the ‘uniquely mercurial’ (The Times) Jess Gillam has been invited to play on the world’s major stages since becoming the youngest ever soloist to perform at the Last Night of the Proms and was hailed for her ‘effortless virtuosity and limitless expressiveness’ (Arts Desk). Equally at home behind the microphone, Gillam has shattered glass ceilings as the youngest ever presenter for BBC Radio 3 with her award-winning weekly show, This Classical Life.

Passionate about broadening the repertoire for the saxophone, Jess Gillam gives the premieres of various works in the current and forthcoming seasons; this includes Glasslands by Anna Clyne (co-commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y León, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, NAC Orchestra Ottawa and Naples Philharmonic). Further premieres include the world premiere of Dani Howard’s Saxophone Concerto with London Chamber Orchestra and the UK premiere of Karl Jenkins’ Stravaganza with BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Gillam is Artist in Focus with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and The Glasshouse International Centre for Music for the 2023/24 season and continues to be Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall and Artistic Partner with the Manchester Camerata.

Highlights of Gillam’s concerto appearances have included performances with the BBC, DSO Berlin, Gothenburg, Iceland, Lahti and London Symphony Orchestras as well as the London, Royal Liverpool and Munich Philharmonics, among others. Further afield, concerto highlights in the US have included the Houston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra. This season sees Gillam debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra as well as return to the NDR Elbphilharmonieorchester, performing James MacMillan’s Saxophone Concerto under Marin Alsop. She also tours with the Manchester Camerata (including a debut performance at the Enescu Festival) and appears with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé and BBC Concert Orchestra.

On the recital stage, Jess Gillam is seen performing across Europe, the US and beyond. As an ECHO Rising Star in 2022/23 season, Gillam has appeared throughout Europe’s most prestigious concert halls, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw (where she will return in June 2024), Wiener Konzerthaus, Konzerthuset Stockholm and Barcelona’s Palau de le Musica. She has also performed recitals at the Kissinger Sommer, Schleswig-Holstein and Heidelberger Frühling music festivals. Following her Carnegie Hall debut in the 2022/23 season and recital at the Aspen Music Festival, she returns to the US this season and makes her Boston Celebrity Series debut.

Jess Gillam loves to collaborate and bring people together to enjoy sparky and energetic performances. She formed her band, the Jess Gillam Ensemble, in 2019. Their bold, uplifting and open-minded approach is rooted in classical music but takes inspiration from different musical worlds. Gillam’s carefully curated programmes provide a new spin on C.P.E. Bach, groove in the music of John Harle, Anna Meredith and Barbara Thompson as well as folk infusions and soaring melodies through works by Sakamoto, J.S. Bach and Björk. Since their launch, the ensemble released their chart-topping album, TIME, and have performed throughout the UK and Europe to largely sold-out audiences at venues and festivals including the Wigmore Hall, Latitude Festival, Mozartfest Augsburg, and the Bath Festival.

Alongside her performance work, Gillam is a keen TV and Radio presenter. Her weekly show on BBC Radio 3, This Classical Life, is in its fifth season and has garnered high praise from The Guardian who wrote: ‘There are many more established presenters who lack Gillam’s warmth and impressive ability’. In 2020, This Classical Life was awarded the ARIA Award for Best Specialist Music Show. As a guest presenter, Gillam has worked for BBC Radio 2, co-hosted on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and presented at the BBC Proms and BBC Young Musician of the Year.

As an exclusive recording artist with Decca Classics, Jess Gillam is the first and only saxophonist to be signed to the major label. Both her albums have reached No. 1 in the UK Classical Music Charts and her debut album, Rise, was listed in The Times’ Top 100 albums of 2019. Her second album, TIME, was released to critical acclaim in 2020; ‘Gillam’s agile soprano saxophone soars impressively… before gliding gracefully in and around a hive of textural activity that builds up to a frenetic ending’ (Gramophone on her recording of Michael Nyman Where the Bee Dances).

In 2016, Jess Gillam made history after becoming the first saxophonist to reach the Finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year. She has been the recipient of a Classic BRIT Award, a The Times Breakthrough Award nominee and was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2021 for Services to Music. Returning to her roots in Ulverston in Cumbria, Gillam continues to promote her own concert series in her hometown, inviting internationally renowned artists, a series she founded at age 12. She is a patron for Awards for Young Musicians, Music in Secondary Schools Trust, the London Music Fund and is a member of the Council of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Gillam is a Vandoren UK Artist and became the youngest ever endorsee for Yanagisawa Saxophones aged just 13.

Fabien Gabel has established an international career of the highest calibre, appearing with orchestras such as London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln Cologne, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Oslo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Praised for his dynamic style and sensitive approach to the score, he is best known for his eclectic choice of repertoire ranging from core symphonic works to new music to championing lesser-known composers of the 19th and the 20th century.

Gabel begins the 2021/22 season giving the season opening concerts of the Tonkünstler-Orchester in Vienna. Other highlights of the season include his debuts with NDR Radiophilharmonie, Stavanger Symphony, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Malmö Symphony and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, and his return to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra where he appears regularly. With the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia he gives the Spanish premiere of the complete version of Tomasi trumpet concerto with Håkan Hardenberger. In North America, he continues his established relationships with orchestras such as Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony and Detroit Symphony. He is highly in demand in his native France with Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique du Capitole de Toulouse and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo.

Fabien Gabel performs with soloists such as Yefim Bronfman, Emmanuel Ax, Bertrand Chamayou, Seong-Jin Cho, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Gidon Kremer, Augustin Hadelich, Simone Lamsma, Christian Tetzlaff, Gautier Capuçon, Johannes Moser, Håkan Hardenberger, Emmanuel Pahud, and with singers such as Measha Brueggergosman, Natalie Dessay, Petra Lang, Jennifer Larmore, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Danielle de Niese and Michael Schade.

Having attracted international attention in 2004 as the winner of the Donatella Flick conducting competition, Fabien Gabel was assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra 2004-2006. He was music director of Orchestre Symphonique de Québec 2012-2021 and Orchestre Francais de Jeunes 2017-2021.

Born in Paris to a family of accomplished musicians, Fabien Gabel began playing the trumpet at the age of six and honed his skills at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. He played with various Parisian orchestras under prominent conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle and Bernard Haitink before embarking on his conducting career.