Tess Jackson is the winner of the Menuhin Conducting Prize at the Menuhin Gstaad Festival 2026. She has been named a Classic FM Rising Star, and, following her BBC Proms debut in 2024, featured as one of the BBC Proms' ten “exceptional” artists under 30 and one of the “brightest rising stars on the international stage”.

Her versatility spans a broad repertoire with a commanding presence in both symphonic and operatic works. The 26/27 season sees Tess debut with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She also returns to the Philharmonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Tess makes her US debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago conducting four performances of La Traviata, and has her debut at Glyndebourne Festival conducting a performance of Rossini’s La Cenerentola.

Her 2025–26 season included a return to the BBC Proms and Garsington Opera (La Traviata), as well as debuts with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Ulster Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Other opera engagements include a performance of The Marriage of Figaro with English National Opera, and performances of West Side Story and Cabaret at Volksoper Wien. In 2025 she had a celebrated return to the BBC Proms in three separate concerts, with the National Youth Orchestra with Holst’s The Planets, Britten Sinfonia with Gavin Higgins’ Rough Voices, and the Royal Northern Sinfonia at the Glasshouse.

Born in 2000, Tess graduated from Cambridge University with First Class in Music. She went on to study a Masters in Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, where she received the Conducting and Regency Award for outstanding achievement. She served as Associate Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain from 2023-2025.