International Orchestral Conducting Academy 2026

From July 19th to 25th, the International Orchestral Conducting Academy held another edition, bringing together young conductors from different corners of the world, including Taiwan, Spain, the United States of America, England, and Poland.

Throughout this week of intensive work, mentors Maestro Ricardo Averbach and Maestro Nikolay Lalov evaluated the candidates, who conducted the musicians of the Orquestra de Câmara de Cascais e Oeiras and devoted countless hours to rehearsal and musical exchange. On Saturday night, July 25th, the Auditório da Senhora da Boa Nova hosted the Final Concert, a moment that closed the edition and celebrated everything built throughout these days.

As is tradition, the Academy included a competition from which three finalists emerged, invited to take the podium and conduct the Orchestra on this closing night.

The winners of this edition were:

1st place (ex aequo) – Yunosuke Okamura
1st place (ex aequo) – Matthew Lloyd-Wilson
3rd place – Jacob Bass

Congratulations to all participants!