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.

Australian/British soprano Samantha Clarke was the winner of the 2019 Guildhall Gold Medal and prize winner in the 2019 Grange International Festival Singing Competition. Samantha studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, as a Sir John Fisher Foundation and Independent Opera Scholar, under the tutelage of Mary Plazas. She is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Opera School as a Baroness de Turckheim Scholar, Help Musicians, Tait Memorial and Countess of Munster Trust Scholar and studied with Yvonne Kenny.

In addition to the 2019 Guildhall Gold Medal, Samantha is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Leverhulme Royal Northern College of Music Award, the Dame Eva Turner Award and the Michael and Joyce Kennedy Award for the singing of Strauss.

In the 2025/26 season Samantha returns to Opera Australia as Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice), and is Artist in Residence with the West Australian Opera where she will make role debuts as Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) and Tatyana (Eugene Onegin). Her concert engagements include The Creation with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra/Eivind Aadland and on tour with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Václav Luks, Waldvogel in concert performances of Siegfried with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra/Simone Young, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Carter and Messiah with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Sofi Jeannin. Later in 2026, she performs Mozart’s Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Woglinde (Götterdämmerung) in concert with Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Her operatic roles include: Violetta (La traviata), Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte), Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), The Governess (The Turn of the Screw) and the title role in Theodora.

Recent and future engagements include Countess (Le nozze di Figaro) at Garsington, Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte) with English National Opera, the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in Japan, Grange Festival and Opera Queensland, Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare) and Theodora for Pinchgut Opera, Woglinde (Das Rheingold), Marzelline (Fidelio) and Mendelssohn’s (Midsummer Night’s Dream) with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Simone Young, Violetta (La traviata) with The Grange Festival, Opera Australia and West Australian Opera, a US tour with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Messiah and War Requiem with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 in Tasmania and Britten’s Les Illuminations with Western Australia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardner.

Samantha features on the Resonus label’s recording Samuel Barber: The Complete Songs with accompanist Dylan Perez.

Australian soprano Eleanor Lyons is known for her versatility, deep musicality and fresh interpretations. An international success, Eleanor has garnered global attention for her beautiful voice and virtuosic performances. Also known for her versatility, Eleanor passionately shapes every detail of opera, orchestral concerts, chamber music and solo recitals. Her talent and approach have resulted in on-going fruitful collaborations with various orchestras and conductors on a global level.

Most recent highlights include Eleanor’s phenomenally successful house debut at Dresden's Semperoper as Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio in the historical production by Christine Milietz from 1989. She took the same role to the stage with the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in Madrid under the direction of David Afkham. In addition, Eleanor appeared as a soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées conducted by Philippe Herreweghe as part of a European tour.

Here in Australia Eleanor returned to the Queensland Symphony in two consecutive engagements under the baton of Umberto Clerici, first in Strauss’ Four Last Songs followed by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Other Australian highlights included her debut with the Sydney Symphony as Freia in a stage production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Simone Young. She also sung Verdi’s Requiem at the Adelaide Festival with the Antwerp Symphony. Further afield, Eleanor made her critically acclaimed debut with the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony under Dennis Russell Davies and celebrated her first appearance at the Vienna Musikverein in Bruckner's Psalm 150 with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Petr Popelka. At the 2022 Festival Les Chorégies d'Orange, she appeared as soloist in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis under John Nelson as part of the French Bastille Day celebrations.

2025 see Eleanor perform Britten's Les Illuminations together with selected Mozart concert arias with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, while she makes her debut at Turin's Teatro Regio as the soloist in Mahler's 2nd Symphony under Aziz Shokhakimov. Eleanor will also return to the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Verdi’s Requiem

Eleanor maintains her special collaboration with Philippe Herreweghe and embarks on another prestigious European tour in March with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Eleanor Lyons looks forward to making other debuts as a soloist in Dvořák's Stabat Mater with the Rundfunksinfonie-Orchester Berlin, in Poulenc's Stabat Mater with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (Kazuki Yamada), Mahler’s Symphony No.2 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Jaime Martín) and Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Tasmania Symphony Orchestra (Valentia Peleggi).

Eleanor won first prize at the International Obraztsova Singing Competition, studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers, St. Petersburg and was awarded the Michael Byrne Vienna State Opera Award.

Noa Beinart was born in Tel Aviv and completed her vocal studies at the University Hanns Eisler in Berlin in the vocal class of Christine Schäfer. She gained her first stage experience in college productions in roles such as Amastre (Serse) and Annina (Der Rosenkavalier). After graduation from the Hanns Eisler university in 2018 she became a member of the opera studio of the Bayrische Staatsoper Munich.

In 2020 she sang Grimgerde in Die Walküre at the Opéra National de Paris under the baton of Philippe Jordan. The same year she was engaged by the Vienna State Opera as ensemble member where she has sung Mary in Der fliegende Holländer, Auntie in Peter Grimes, Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, Schwertleite in Walküre, Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana, 1st Norn in Götterdämmerung and Gaea in Daphne.

In the summer 2021 she debuted as 2nd maid in Elektra at the Salzburg Festival where she returned in 2022 as 3rd Lady in Die Zauberflöte. In 2022 she sang the 1st Norn in Götterdämmerung in a new Ring cycle production conducted by Christian Thielemann at the Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin.

Tenor Shanul Sharma, celebrated for his ‘dazzling fireworks’ (The Age), ‘laser-like precision’ (Limelight Magazine), ‘radiant high notes’ (Opera Libera) and ‘resplendent clarity’ (Sydney Morning Herald), has been described as ‘Gandhi reincarnate’ (Oper! Magazin) and is recognised as the first Indian-born Australian to perform as a principal artist in an Australian opera (SBS News).

Born in Jabalpur, India, Shanul relocated to Australia to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and during this time began his musical journey as the lead vocalist in heavy metal bands, releasing three original studio albums. Seeking new artistic avenues, he turned to classical singing and moved from Wagga Wagga to Melbourne in 2013 to start training privately as an opera singer. Since then, he has performed in opera houses, concert halls, and arenas across Europe, Australia, Russia and the UK.

Shanul made his operatic debut in 2014 with Opera Australia as Don Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola. He later joined the company's Moffatt-Oxenbould Young Artist Program (2018-2021), where he earned critical acclaim for roles such as Il Conte di Libenskof in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims (2019), Der Student Arkenholz in Reimann’s Die Gespenstersonate (2019), Il Conte d’Almaviva in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia (2023), MK Gandhi in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha (2023) and Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (2024). In January 2025, Shanul returned to Opera Australia to reprise his role as Il Conte d'Almaviva in Elijah Moshinsky’s renowned production of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Sydney Opera House and the Regent Theatre, Melbourne.

Shanul has also performed in major roles at other prestigious houses, including the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, where he sang Il Conte di Libenskof in Il viaggio a Reims (2020, 2019), and at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy (2018). In September/October 2024 he appeared as MK Gandhi in Staatsoper Hannover’s new production of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha directed by Daniel Kramer, where his portrayal of the iconic figure was critically praised for its sincere and authentic delivery. Other notable appearances include the title role in Mozart’s Mitridate, Re di Ponto at Teatro Olimpico for Festival Vicenza in Lirica (2021), Il Conte d’Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Teatro del Giglio, Lucca (2018), Lindoro in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri for Fondazione Rete, Italy (2022), and Gennaro in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia for Melbourne Opera (2022). In December 2023, he created the role of Papa Urbano VIII in the opera Galileo, composed and conducted by Richard Mills AO and directed by Stuart Maunder AM for Victorian Opera.

On the concert stage, Shanul has represented the Rossini Opera Festival as the tenor soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater at LaVerdi Auditorium in Milan, conducted by Claus Peter Flor, and at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo (2018). He performed with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra at the Llangollen Festival in Wales under the baton of Christopher Tin for his Grammy Award-winning composition Calling All Dawns (2017), and with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra for Mazda Opera in the Domain under the direction of Brian Castles-Onion AM (2019). He collaborated with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in 2023 for excerpts from Galileo at the Perth International Festival, conducted by Richard Mills AO and appeared as Arnold and the tenor soloist in Rossini's Guillaume Tell and Petite Messe Solenelle with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall in 2025. These performances were broadcast on S4C TV (UK) and ABC Classic (Australia). In October 2026, Shanul will make his debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Simone Young and starring alongside Sir Bryn Terfel as the tenor soloist in Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. 

Demonstrating his versatility, in late 2022, Shanul toured as the lead vocalist with Eric Lévi’s French new-age group +eRa+, appearing across France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg to audiences totalling over 60,000. The tour featured Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum artists Rob Harris and Paul Turner of Jamiroquai, Ged Lynch of Peter Gabriel, Nicola Montazaud and Eric Lévi himself. In January 2025, Shanul performed an a capella version of the Indian national anthem at a sold-out Sydney Cricket Ground and a global TV audience of over 50 million to kick-off the Pink Test between Australia and India.

A Master’s graduate in Advanced Vocal Studies from the Wales International Academy of Voice, Shanul is the only artist to have won both the Canto Lirico and Rossini International Award in Pesaro, Italy in the same year (2017). He was also honoured with Broadway World Sydney’s award for Best Performer in an Opera – Male for his role as Der Student Arkenholz in Die Gespenstersonate (2019) and was nominated for Outstanding Performance in a Lead Role at the 2024 Green Room Awards for his portrayal of MK Gandhi in Satyagraha.

Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel has been moving audiences worldwide with the qualities of his mighty voice and his insightful artistry for more than three decades.

With a repertoire that ranges from opera and sacred music to Lieder and musical theatre, he has cultivated a peerless degree of stylistic versatility over the years. In the latest of many honours bestowed on him, he was invited to perform at the coronation service for King Charles III on 6 May 2023 and at the Coronation Concert in the grounds of Windsor Castle on 7 May, making him the only artist to appear at both events. During the service he joined the Choir of Westminster Abbey in singing Paul Mealor’s beautiful Coronation Kyrie, the first Welsh-language work ever to be performed at a coronation. At the concert the following day, meanwhile, he and tenor Andrea Bocelli gave a heartfelt rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel.  In 2024, he will celebrate his 30th anniversary as an exclusive DG artist.

Terfel was born in North Wales in 1965. After studies at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he attracted international attention in 1989 when he won the Lieder prize at the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. The following year he made his professional operatic debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte for Welsh National Opera. His career gathered momentum in 1991 with significant debuts as Mozart’s Figaro at English National Opera and in the US for Santa Fe Opera; it took off at the Salzburg Festival in 1992 with an outstanding performance as Jochanaan in Salome and an equally impressive debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Masetto in Don Giovanni.

Since then, his operatic repertoire has grown to encompass the title roles in Boris Godunov, Der fliegende Holländer, Falstaff and Gianni Schicchi; Wotan in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre; Méphistophélès in Faust; the four villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann; Balstrode in Peter Grimes; Wolfram in Tannhäuser; Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress; and Scarpia in Tosca, among others. He has also made extremely successful forays into the world of musicals, starring to huge acclaim in both Sweeney Todd and Fiddler on the Roof.

Sir Bryn is equally at home on the concert platform, highlights of his long and varied career including the Wales Millennium Centre’s opening ceremony; the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall; a gala concert with Andrea Bocelli in Central Park, New York; and a Christmas concert streamed live from Brecon Cathedral as part of the Met Stars Live in Concert series.

Terfel signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in 1993 and sang the title role in Le nozze di Figaro under John Eliot Gardiner for his first (Archiv) recording. His debut DG solo release was an album of Schubert songs recorded with Malcolm Martineau in 1994, while English song supplied the repertoire for his second, The Vagabond. These were followed by Opera Arias, Something Wonderful, a collection of hit songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and If Ever I Would Leave You, an album of Broadway songs.

His DG discography continued to grow with such diverse releases as We’ll Keep a Welcome, Bryn Terfel Sings Favourites, Simple Gifts, Silent Noon, Tutto Mozart!, Bad Boys and Homeward Bound. Terfel’s opera recordings include a Ring cycle (Metropolitan Opera production), Der fliegende Holländer (from Opernhaus Zürich) and Don Giovanni (La Scala). Two recent releases on DG’s Verbier Festival Gold label feature live recordings from Verbier: a 2011 recital of songs by Schubert, Schumann, Ibert and Quilter, and a 2016 semi-staged performance of Falstaff.  

His latest recording is Sea Songs, a collection of sea shanties, sailor songs and maritime folk tunes from around the world. He is joined on the album by a remarkable line-up of guest artists, including Sting, Eve Goodman, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Hannah Stone, Calan and Fisherman’s Friends. With tracks including ‘Ar lan y môr’, ‘The Green Willow Tree’, ‘Drunken Sailor’, ‘Sloop John B’, ‘The Wellerman’ and many more, Sea Songs was released in February 2024.  

Sir Bryn has won numerous Grammys, Classical Brits and Gramophone awards. In 2003, he was made a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for services to opera; in 2006 he became the second recipient of the Queen’s Medal for Music; and in 2017 received a knighthood for services to music. In February 2022 he was named a Kammersänger – an honour bestowed by the Austrian government for his services to the Wiener Staatsoper. A passionate advocate for music education and for his native language and culture, he has recently launched a new foundation in partnership with the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Cronfa Syr Bryn Terfel will offer scholarships and bursaries; support projects and commissions that celebrate the Welsh language and culture; and establish a new biennial international song competition in which students will sing at least one song in Welsh and one in their own language.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s premier choral organisation. Since it was founded in 1920, SPC has brought people together through music, and for over five decades, it has been the heartbeat of choral performance at the Sydney Opera House.

Led by Artistic and Music Director Brett Weymark OAM and Associate Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott, and with more than 2,000 singers across six ensembles, SPC brings the full power of the human voice to dynamic music making. From blockbuster choral classics like Carmina Burana or the Verdi Requiem, to the soaring soundtracks of films such as Gladiator, heartwarming musical theatre, and world premieres by leading Australian composers.

Each year, SPC performs approximately 50 performances across Sydney and beyond, collaborating with top-tier orchestras, soloists and conductors, performing regularly with many of Australia’s most prominent arts companies and festivals. SPC has performed in the Sydney Opera House, Hamer Hall Melbourne, the Singapore National Football Stadium, Westminster Abbey, the Tokyo Dome and the Royal Albert Hall. Highlights over the years have included the opening of the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney and Nagano Olympic Games and being the first Australian choir to perform at the BBC Proms. SPC is also proud to have been the choir of choice for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 1936.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs concerts celebrate diversity – of voices, of stories, and of sound – with programs that allow singers and audiences to connect with an exhilarating range of music in languages from English to Gadigal, keeping things fresh with premieres, commissions and new interpretations of beloved classics.