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 begun 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 opened with a 70th birthday celebratory concert closing the Edinburgh Festival with Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony, after which he opened the Dresden Philharmonic season and then continued to Berlin for a concert with the Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchester as part of the Berlin Festival. Runnicles’ 2024/25 Deutsche Oper Berlin season included 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 returned twice to Sydney Symphony over the course of the season and made 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.

Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has been praised for her ‘agile, glamorous presence’ by Opéra Magazine and as a ‘luminous standout’ by The New York Times. Ms. Cooke has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among others, and with over a hundred symphony orchestras worldwide, frequently in the works of Mahler. In 2022, Ms. Cooke was appointed as Co-Director of the Lehrer Vocal Institute at the Music Academy of the West.

In the 2026-2027 season, Ms. Cooke appears with many of the world's leading orchestras in a wide-ranging concert season that includes Elgar’s Sea Pictures with Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Dinis Souza, Ravel’s Shéhérazade with Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Sun Valley Music Festival, Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium with Orchestre National de France conducted by Trevor Pinnock, a world premiere by Bernard Foccroulle and Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust with National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jonathon Heyward, and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Klaus Mäkelä. She also appears with Opera Parallèle in the West Coast premiere of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly as Sylvie.

As one of today’s foremost interpreters of Mahler’s music, Ms. Cooke’s season includes performances of Das klagende Lied at Musikverein with Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Symphony No.8 with Hong Kong Philharmonic conducted by Tarmo Peltokoski, and Das Lied von der Erde with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. She joins guitarist Jason Vieaux in Songs of the Americas, in songs from Enrique Granados to Stephen Sondheim. Sasha Cooke joins San Francisco Symphony celebrating the life and legacy of Michael Tilson Thomas.

Recent seasons included a series of major role debuts, including Carmen with Seattle Opera, Venus in Tannhäuser and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Houston Grand Opera, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at Opéra de Rouen and the Gstaad Festival, Emilie Ekdahl in the world premiere of Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek’s Fanny and Alexander at La Monnaie. She returned to prominent houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Seattle Opera, while appearing in world premieres by Joby Talbot, Gene Scheer, Scott Ordway, Alex Turley, and others. A celebrated interpreter of Mahler, Cooke performed Das Lied von der Erde, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 with leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, San Francisco Symphony, Wiener Symphoniker and Concertgebouw Orchestra under conductors such as Yannick Nézet- Séguin, Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Antonio Pappano, Daniel Harding, and Klaus Mäkelä. Additional highlights included appearances at Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall, a national recital tour of her American-themed program Of Thee I Sing, and the continued success of her Grammy-nominated PENTATONE recording how do I find you, showcasing contemporary song cycles written during the pandemic.

As a dedicated recitalist, Ms. Cooke was presented by Young Concert Artists in her widely acclaimed New York and Washington debuts at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and the Kennedy Center. She has also appeared in recital at Alice Tully Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and the 92nd Street Y. Her recordings can be found on the Hyperion, BIS, Chandos, Pentatone, Naxos, Bridge Records, Yarlung, GPR Records, and Sono Luminus labels. Most recently she appears on recordings including Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer on Pentatone, L’enfance du Christ with Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony on Chandos, Bates’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs on Pentatone which won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, Mahler’s Second Symphony with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra on BIS, Michael Tilson Thomas’s Meditations on Rilke with the San Francisco Symphony with won the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium and Sasha Cooke LIVE, a collection of her performances at the Music@Menlo chamber music festival released on their label.

Sasha Cooke is a graduate of Rice University and The Juilliard School. She also attended the Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute, Wolf Trap Foundation, Marlboro Music Festival, Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and Seattle Opera and Central City Opera’s Young Artist Training Programs.