Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor, Simone Young has previously held the posts of General Manager and Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Music Director of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg, Music Director of Opera Australia, Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of both the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Her appointment as Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra has recently been extended through until the end of 2029.

An acknowledged interpreter of the operas of Wagner and Strauss, she has conducted complete cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival, Vienna Staatsoper, Berlin Staatsoper, Hamburg Staatsoper and, in 2026, La Scala Milan.

Simone Young has an extensive and celebrated recording catalogue. Her first performance as Chief Conductor in Sydney, featuring Mahler’s Symphony No.2 Resurrection and the world premiere of William Barton’s Of the Earth was released worldwide on Deutsche Grammophon, and performances of Elgar & Vaughan Williams, Das Rheingold and Gurrelieder have been filmed for Sydney Symphony On Demand. Her Hamburg recordings include the Ring Cycle, Mathis der Maler (Hindemith), Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (Schmidt) and symphonies of Bruckner, Brahms and Mahler. She has also recorded Benjamin Britten Folksongs and songs of Richard Strauss with Steve Davislim, and songs by Wagner and Strauss with Lisa Gasteen.

Simone Young’s return invitations to the great orchestras of the world in 2026 will include the Suisse Romande, the Orchestre nationale de Lyon, West German Radio Orchestra Cologne, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France Paris, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester. She also returns to ANAM, Melbourne to lead their orchestra in a 30th birthday celebration Gala performance.

Firmly established as one of the world’s leading opera conductors, 2026 will see Simone Young return to the Berlin Staatsoper (Lohengrin and Nabucco), La Scala Milan (the Ring cycle and a new work by Luca Francesconi) and Götterdämmerung, completing Sydney Symphony’s Ring Cycle.

The presentation of Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Ring Cycle in concert, commencing in 2023, has played to sold out audiences, standing ovations and 5-star reviews. A second, feature-length documentary film, Knowing the Score, showcasing Simone Young and her career was also internationally released in 2023.

In 2025 Simone Young was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sydney. Her many accolades also include the 2024 Conductor of the year (British Opera magazine), Honorary Member (Ehrenmitglied) of the Vienna State Opera, the 2019 European Cultural Prize Vienna, a Professorship at the Musikhochschule in Hamburg, Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Western Australia and New South Wales, Griffith University and Monash University, the Sir Bernard Heinze Award, the Goethe Institute Medal, the 2013 Helpmann Award for Best Individual Classical Music Performance and the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France.

Over the course of a career spanning 45 years, Sir Donald Runnicles has built his reputation on enduring relationships with major symphonic and operatic institutions. Focusing on depth over breadth, he has held chief artistic leadership positions at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (since 2009), Grand Teton Music Festival (since 2005), San Francisco Opera (1992–2008), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (2009–2016), and Orchestra of St. Luke’s (2001–2007). Sir Donald was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for more than two decades (2001–2023), and he is the first ever Principal Guest Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (since 2019). In February 2024, Runnicles was appointed as Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic, which will begin with the 2025/26 season.

Known as a consummate Wagnerian and conductor of German Romantic repertoire, Runnicles leads Deutsche Oper Berlin this season in a new production of the Richard Strauss rarity, Intermezzo, directed by Tobias Kratzer, as well as revival performances of Parsifal and two full cycles of Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen. At the Metropolitan Opera, he conducted eight performances of the Otto Schenk production of Tannhäuser. Other 2023/24 appearances include the Dresden Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and Utah Symphony, where he led the world premiere of a new concerto written and performed by Sir Stephen Hough.

Runnicles spends his summers at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. This eight-week festival of symphonic and chamber music, five of which are programmed, planned, and conducted by Runnicles as music director, takes place amid the breathtaking beauty of Grand Teton National Park. Summer 2024 GTMF festival highlights included a semi-staged The Magic Flute, concerts with Augustin Hadelich and Yo-Yo Ma, and two fifth symphonies by Mahler and Vaughan Williams.

Runnicles’ 2024/25 season opens with a 70th birthday celebratory concert closing the Edinburgh Festival with Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony, after which he opens the Dresden Philharmonic season and then continues to Berlin for a concert with the Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchester as part of the Berlin Festival. Runnicles’ 2024/25 Deutsche Oper Berlin season includes a new production of Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten and revivals of the Zemlinsky one-act opera Der Zwerg (The Dwarf), Arabella, Intermezzo, Tristan und Isolde, and Verdi’s Don Carlo. He returns twice to Sydney Symphony over the course of the season and makes guest appearances in Chicago, Houston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Cincinnati.

Runnicles tours regularly with Deutsche Oper Berlin to destinations such as the Edinburgh International Festival, the London Proms, Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, and Dubai. He has joined the Philadelphia Orchestra on tours to China, summer residencies at Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Colorado, and annual subscription concerts. A frequent guest conductor with the Chicago Symphony, Runnicles’ performance history dates back to 1997. Over a decade-long relationship with the Vienna State Opera, he led new productions of Parsifal, Britten’s Billy Budd, and Peter Grimes, as well as core repertoire pieces.

Runnicles’ extensive discography includes recordings of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Britten’s Billy Budd, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and Aribert Reimann’s L’invisible. His recording of Wagner arias with Jonas Kaufmann and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin won the 2013 Gramophone Award for Best Vocal Recording, and his recording of Janáček’s Jenůfa with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin was nominated for a 2016 GRAMMY award for Best Opera Recording.

Sir Donald Runnicles was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was appointed OBE in 2004, and was made a Knight Bachelor in 2020. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Australian conductor Benjamin Northey is the Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Conductor in Residence of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Guest Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In 2025 he was appointed Professor of Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Director of the Australian Conducting Academy. He has previously held the posts of Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2010-2019), Resident Guest Conductor of the Australia Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra (2002-2006) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (2007-2010).

Northey studied conducting at Finland's Sibelius Academy with Professors Leif Segerstam and Atso Almila after being accepted as the highest placed applicant in 2002. He completed his studies at the Stockholm Royal College of Music with Jorma Panula in 2006.

He previously studied conducting with John Hopkins OBE at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music from 2000-2002.

Northey appears regularly as a guest conductor with all major Australian symphony orchestras, Opera Australia (La bohème, Turandot, L'elisir d'amore, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Carmen), New Zealand Opera (Sweeney Todd), Victorian Opera (Candide, Into the Woods) and the State Opera South Australia (La sonnambula, L’elisir d’amore, Les contes d’Hoffmann).

His international appearances include concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, the Malaysian Philharmonic and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Northey has collaborated with a broad range of leading artists including Lang Lang, Pinchas Zukerman, Wynton Marsalis, Maxim Vengerov, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Julian Rachlin, Karen Gomyo, Piers Lane, Alban Gerhardt, Johannes Moser, William Barton, Lu Siquing, Amy Dickson, Slava Grigoryan, Marc-André Hamelin, James Morrison, Kurt Elling, Archie Roach, Ben Folds, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Paul Grabowsky, Tim Minchin, kd Lang, Patti Austin, Kate Miller-Heidke, Megan Washington, Barry Humphries, Meow Meow and Tori Amos.

Northey is highly active in the performance and recording of new Australian orchestral music, having premiered dozens of major new works by Australian composers.  He has previously been a board member of the Australian Music Centre.

An Aria Awards, Air Music Awards, and Art Music Awards winner, he was voted Limelight Magazine's Australian Artist of the Year in 2018. Northey's many recordings can be found on ABC Classics. In 2025, he conducts the Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland, Tasmanian and Christchurch Symphony Orchestras and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

Russian-born Vladimir Ashkenazy inherited his musical gift from both sides of his family: his father David Ashkenazy was a professional light music pianist and his mother Evstolia (nee Plotnova) was daughter of a chorus master in the Russian Orthodox church. He first came to prominence in the 1955 Chopin Festival in Warsaw and after winning the 1956 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. He established himself as one of the premier pianists of the 20th century before expanding his musical interests to include conducting.

A regular visitor to Sydney, Vladimir Ashkenazy first came to Australia, as a pianist, in 1969. Since then he has conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in subscription concerts and composer festivals. He was the orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor from 2009 to 2013. Highlights of his tenure were the Mahler Odyssey, a concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades and several international tours.

In 2018 the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was able to announce that Vladimir Ashkenazy had accepted the position of Conductor Laureate.

Vladimir Ashkenazy’s associations with other orchestras include the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), which made him their Conductor Laureate in 2000. He is also Conductor Laureate of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and of the NHK Orchestra, Tokyo, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. Previous posts included Music Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. He maintains strong links with the Cleveland Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (where he held titled positions).

Ashkenazy maintains his devotion to the piano, these days mostly in the recording studio. His discography also records his work as a conductor, including direction of Rachmaninoff’s orchestral music. Milestone recordings include 50 Years on Decca – a box set celebrating his long-standing relationship with the label.

Beyond performing and conducting Ashkenazy has been involved in many TV projects, inspired by a vision of music maintaining a presence in the mainstream media and reaching as wide an audience as possible.