Raised in Los Angeles, conductor Ryan Bancroft has rapidly built an international career which takes him all over the globe working with many of the world’s leading orchestras. Since September 2021, Bancroft has been Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In September 2023, he became Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. He also holds the position of Artist-in-Association with the Tapiola Sinfonietta in Finland.

In August 2023, Bancroft returned to Los Angeles to make his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. In the 2025–26 season, he conducts them at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, following on from his critically acclaimed debut at the venue in April 2025. Elsewhere in the U.S. this season, he makes his debuts with the St. Louis, Houston, and New World Symphony Orchestras, following recent successful debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco, and Dallas Symphony Orchestras. He has close relationships in Canada with the Toronto Symphony and National Arts Centre, Ottawa.

Since his success at the prestigious Malko Competition for Young Conductors in 2018, where he won both First Prize and Audience Prize, Bancroft has conducted a number of other leading European orchestras including the BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and Rai Torino.

Bancroft has a passion for contemporary music and has performed with Ensemble Intercontemporain and Amsterdam’s acclaimed Nieuw Ensemble; assisted Pierre Boulez in a performance of his Sur Incises in Los Angeles; premiered works by Sofia Gubaidulina, John Cage, and Anders Hillborg; and has worked closely with improvisers such as Wadada Leo Smith and Charlie Haden.

Bancroft studied trumpet at the California Institute of the Arts, alongside additional studies in harp, flute, cello, and Ghanaian music and dance. He then went on to receive a Master of Music in orchestral conducting from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He continued his conducting studies in the Netherlands and is a graduate of the prestigious Nationale Master Orkestdirectie run jointly by the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.

Regarded as one of the most outstanding violinists of her generation, Clara-Jumi Kang is celebrated for her exceptional musicality, technical mastery, and artistic depth. She has received numerous awards and accolades, including First Prize at the 2010 Indianapolis International Violin Competition.

In the 2025–26 season, Kang is Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. As part of her residency, she will perform concertos by Lalo, Shostakovich, and Bernstein with Chief Conductor Ryan Bancroft. Other highlights this season include her subscription debut with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a tour with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Philharmonia Orchestra on their Korean tour.

Kang regularly appears at major international festivals including the BBC Proms, the Hollywood Bowl alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Salzburg Festival, Verbier Festival, Edinburgh Festival, and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo. In 2025, she was the soloist for the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra’s major tour to China and Europe with Zubin Mehta.

Kang has made two recordings for Decca: Modern Solo, featuring works by Schubert and Ysaÿe, and a Brahms-Schumann album with Yeol Eum Son. In 2021, she released a cycle of Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas with pianist Sunwook Kim.

A dedicated chamber musician, she collaborates with musicians including Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky, and Janine Jansen.

Born in Germany to Korean parents, Clara-Jumi Kang took up the violin at age three and a year later enrolled as the youngest-ever student at the Mannheim Musikhochschule. She went on to study with Zakhar Bron at the Lübeck Musikhochschule and at age seven was awarded a full scholarship to The Julliard School to study with Dorothy Delay. Having received musical guidance from Barenboim starting from the age of 11, she was then invited to perform with him and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 12. She took her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the Korean National University of Arts under Nam-Yun Kim before completing her studies at the Munich Musikhochschule with Christoph Poppen.