South African-born conductor Jacobus de Jager was the winner of the 5th South African Conductors’ Competition and one of the eight semi-finalists of the 2023 Herbert von Karajan Young Conductor’s Award.

Jacobus is currently in the second year of his master’s in conducting with Martyn Brabbins and Michael Bawtree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, generously supported by the Leverhulme Trust. As part of his studies and during various other opportunities, he has conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Scottish Opera, Hebrides Ensemble, Red Note Ensemble, Athens Philharmonia, Silesian Philharmonic, RCS Symphony, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik, and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. In South Africa, Jacobus was the resident conductor of the Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra in 2021 and 2022 and has guest conducted orchestras such as the Cape Town Philharmonic, Mzansi Philharmonic, Free State Symphony, Eastern Cape Philharmonic, and the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra. He was also a conductor at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival where he world premiered two South African works.

Most recently he assisted Martyn Brabbins on his two 2024 BBC Proms concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He has also acted as assistant to Vassily Sinaisky, Catherine Larsen-Maguire, Arjan Tien, and Michael Seal among others.

Jacobus has received masterclasses from conductors including Marin Alsop, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, John Wilson, Antony Hermus, Sian Edwards, Leonid Grin, Ryan Bancroft, James Lowe, Michalis Economou, Stuart Stratford, Arjan Tien, and Victor Yampolsky. His previous conducting teachers include Corvin Matei and Daniel Boico in South Africa, and Alexander Polishchuk in St Petersburg.

In addition to his conducting studies, Jacobus holds a Master of Music (Cum Laude) in piano performance from the University of Stellenbosch, having studied with Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães.