Two Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduates have been selected to join one of the world’s most prestigious training platforms for emerging conductors.

Jacobus de Jager (2025) and Magnus Plejdrup (2023) have secured two of only four places on the internationally renowned Lucerne Festival Contemporary Conducting programme for 2026, chosen from around 80 global applicants.

Jacobus and Magnus both studied on the postgraduate Conducting programme at RCS, under Visting Professor of Conducting Martyn Brabbins and lecturer Michael Bawtree.

Lucerne, one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music, was founded in 1938, and takes place from mid-August to mid-September, featuring around 100 concerts and events, including symphony concerts, chamber music and recitals.

Jacobus and Magnus will spend three weeks in Switzerland this summer, working closely with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) under course director Baldur Brönnimann, who conducted the RCS Symphony Orchestra in October 2025.

They will also conduct the performances within the Composer Seminar (led by Dieter Ammann and Unsuk Chin) and interact with other visiting conductors at the festival.

Jacobus, from South Africa, is the current Mills Williams Junior Fellow in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music. He is also a Conducting Fellow on the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Conductors Programme with the Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Jacobus (pictured above) said: “I’m really looking forward to the exciting challenge of working in an environment where contemporary conducting is treated as its own discipline.

“My time at RCS exposed me to a wide range of new music, and conducting Magnus Lindberg’s Gran Duo was a defining experience in my second year.

“Continuing this work at the Lucerne Festival Academy, and learning from Baldur Brönnimann, feels like a natural next step and a valuable artistic challenge.”

Magnus Plejdrup is a Danish conductor and composer based in Copenhagen, and the founder and Artistic Director of Aarhus Chamber Orchestra.

Magnus said: I’m super excited to attend the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Conducting Programme. There’s so much to look forward to – the whole festival experience, listening to great concerts, meeting and learning from extraordinary tutors, collaborating with composers, observing rehearsals, finding inspiration in fellow academists, and experiencing beautiful Lucerne in summer.

“The programme will include performing at several concerts, a dream come true, but also slightly nerve-racking – especially in the unique repertoire featured this year – a challenge I’m excited to overcome!”

Michael Bawtree, Conducting Lecturer at RCS, said: “The whole RCS Conducting Department is thrilled to see the successes of all our recent graduates, especially Magnus and Jacobus on this wonderful achievement.

“The Lucerne summer academies are at the pinnacle of study opportunities for emerging conductors, and for the RCS to have produced two of the four selected for this year’s festival is testament to the positive and nurturing environment created under the leadership of Martyn Brabbins, our Visiting Professor of Conducting.”

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Visit MMus/MFA Conducting to find out everything you need to know about studying at RCS, including programme structure, entry requirements, teaching staff and graduate destinations.

Visit Jacobus and Magnus’s websites for information on upcoming concert schedules.