In June 2022 Bertie Baigent won the Grand Prix at the inaugural International Conducting Competition in Rotterdam, along with the Classical and Symphonic prizes. He has since gone on to conduct the Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Phion Orchestra at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Orchestre National de Lille at BOZAR.

In 2023/24 Bertie debuts with London Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Tampere Philharmonic, Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, and returns to the Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Bertie has been Music Director of Waterperry Opera Festival since 2017. There and elsewhere he has conducted productions of Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Così fan 
tutte, Dido and Aeneas and Partenope – directing the latter two from the harpsichord. He made his Opera Holland Park debut in 2021 and will assist on L’elisir d’amore at 
Glyndebourne Festival Opera in summer 2023.

Born in 1995, Bertie studied at the Royal Academy of Music. He was awarded the Orchestra Prize by the New Japan Philharmonic at the Tokyo International Conducting Competition in 2021. His compositions have been awarded commissions and prizes by the Royal Philharmonic Society and the National Centre for Early Music.

Ralph Skiano was appointed Principal Clarinet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2014 after serving in the same position in the Richmond Symphony and the Des Moines Metro Opera. He has also appeared as guest Principal Clarinet of the Seattle Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Skiano has been involved in numerous music festivals including the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Peninsula Music Festival, the Britt Music Festival, Festival Lyrique-en-Mer, and the Tanglewood Music Center. As a soloist, he has been featured with ensembles in the United States, France, Germany, and Switzerland. In 2010, Skiano was a guest artist at the Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium and was a featured soloist with the Baton Rouge Symphony at the 2014 International Clarinet Association Convention. Skiano appeared as a soloist several times with the Richmond Symphony, most notably performing concerti by Mozart, Weber, and Copland. He made his solo debut with the DSO in March of 2015, performing Mozart's Concerto for Clarinet.

Skiano has served on the faculty of the schools of music at James Madison University and the College of William and Mary and has presented masterclasses at UVA, Towson University, Louisiana State University, California State University Northridge, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, and the University of Maryland.

Under the guidance of Richard Hawley, Skiano completed his Bachelor of Music at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2002.