Biography
Jacobus de Jager is the most recent winner of the South African Conductors’ Competition and was one of the eight semi-finalists of the 2023 Herbert von Karajan Young Conductor’s Award in Salzburg.
Jacobus was the resident conductor of the Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra in 2021 and 2022 and has guest conducted South African orchestras such as the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra, Free State Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, and the Cape Town Pops Orchestra.
In the UK and Europe Jacobus has conducted orchestras and ensembles such as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Scottish Opera, Hebrides Ensemble, Red Note Ensemble, Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, Silesian Philharmonic (during the Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors), RCS Symphony Orchestra, and the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik (during the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductor’s Award).
Jacobus has received conducting masterclasses from Paavo Järvi, Marin Alsop, Neeme Järvi, John Wilson, Antony Hermus, Sian Edwards, Leonid Grin, Ryan Bancroft, James Lowe, Michalis Economou, Kristjan Järvi, Stuart Stratford, Arjan Tien, Victor Yampolsky, Ryan McAdams, Daniel Raiskin, Rebecca Tong, and Julien Benichou. His previous conducting teachers include Corvin Matei and Daniel Boico in South Africa, and Alexander Polishchuk in St Petersburg. He has also assisted conductors such as Vassily Sinaisky, Catherine Larsen-Maguire, Michael Seal, Rebecca Tong and Ellie Slorach.
Jacobus has world premiered two South African works at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival: Kathleen Tagg’s “Please Dream: In his words”, a tribute to late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, and Mikhaila Smith’s “Lighting Our Stories: Tapestries of the Invisible”, with text and narration by Tina Schouw. In 2022, he was awarded the Woordfees Award for the Best Upcoming Artist at the 2022 Toyota US Woordfees and was nominated for 2023 and 2024 KykNet Fiësta Awards.
As part of the SA Conductors’ Competition prize, Jacobus spent 5 weeks studying with and assisting Arjan Tien in the Netherlands. He was also one of the 16 active participants in the Järvi Academy at the Pärnu Music Festival in Estonia, where he worked with the Järvi Academy Sinfonietta and Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Jacobus is currently studying MMus Orchestral Conducting with Martyn Brabbins and Michael Bawtree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He also holds a Bachelor and Master of Music (Cum Laude) in piano performance from the University of Stellenbosch, having studied piano with Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães.
