Conductor and cellist Nikolay Shugaev was awarded the President of the Jury Prize at the 2024 International Conducting Competition in Bucharest, and has served as chief conductor of the North-Caucasus State Philharmonic Safonov. He studied cello both with Natalia Shakhovskaya at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Enrico Dindo at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, and symphonic conducting with Petter Sundkvist at Luleå University. Recent conducting achievements include a special prize at the Russian Grand Orchestra Awards ‘440hz’ for Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring; a tour across China with the Jiangsu Province State Orchestra; and performances of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake at the 28th International Ballet Festival of Havana.

Yuri Medianik has been artistic director and chief conductor of the Tyumen Philharmonic Orchestra since 2022, and is recognised as a distinguished conductor and multi-instrumentalist (violin, bayan, bandoneon), both in Russia and internationally. He graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (violin) and the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (bayan), and is a laureate of five international competitions. He completed his postgraduate studies at the Ippolitov-Ivanov Institute of Music as a conductor. Since 2015, he has directed Moscow's Novaya Opera in both opera and concert repertoire, and has been chief conductor of the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre since 2021.