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.

Chinese soprano Ying Fang has been praised as ‘indispensable at the Met in Mozart’ (The New York Times) and for ‘a voice that can stop time, pure and rich and open and consummately expressive’ (Financial Times).

Ms. Fang begins the 2024/2025 season making her long awaited house debut at the Royal Opera Covent Garden as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro in a production by Sir David McVicar, followed by a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago for the same role. She debuts at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and makes her role debut as Marzelline in Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Lise Davidsen, conducted by Susanna Mälkki and broadcasted as part of The Met Live in HD series. She also sings Ilia in Idomeneo in her house debut at San Francisco Opera. On the concert stage, she joins the Sydney Symphony and Sir Donald Runnicles for Mahler’s 4th symphony and Lieder of Richard Strauss, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons as Mater Gloriosa in Mahler’s Eighth symphony, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montreal and Yannick Nézet-Séguin for her first Beethoven 9, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Raphaël Pichon at Carnegie Hall for a program of Schubert, Schumann, and Weber. She tours with Ensemble Pygmalion and Mo. Pichon, bringing Bach’s Johannespassion to venues including Teatro alla Scala, Notre-Dame de Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She tours with NHK Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi, bringing Mahler’s 4th Symphony to the Concertgebouw, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Dresden Kulturpalast, and Queen Elizabeth Hall in Antwerp.

In the 2023-2024 season, Ms. Fang returned to Opéra national de Paris as Zerlina in Don Giovanni conducted by Antonello Manacorda, Dutch National Opera as Poppea in Agrippina and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte conducted by Riccardo Minasi, the Metropolitan Opera in her role debut as Euridice in Orfeo ed Eudidice, and Santa Fe Opera in her role debut as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. On the concert stage, she reunited with conductor Raphaël Pichon for Mozart’s C Minor Mass in her debut with the Munich Philharmonic, and joined Noord Nederlands Orkest for Ein Deutsches Requiem, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Mahler’s Fourth symphony with Susanna Mälkki, and sang Carmina Burana with the St. Louis Symphony under the baton of Stéphane Denève and the Orchestra of St. Lukes at Carnegie Hall.

In the 2022-2023 season, Ms. Fang made her house debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Susanna in a new Barrie Kosky production of Le nozze de Figaro conducted by Philippe Jordan, a role which she then reprised for the Handel and Haydn Society with Raphaël Pichon. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Ilia in Idomeneo conducted by Manfred Honeck, and as Zerlina in a new production of Don Giovanni conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann. On the concert stage, she returned to San Francisco Symphony for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Robin Ticciati, debuted with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem led by Sir Donald Runnicles, and performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Handel’s Messiah, led by Manfred Honeck. She also performed recitals at New York’s Park Avenue Armory, Cal Performances, and The Dallas Opera.

Ms. Fang’s previous seasons have included performances with conductors James Levine, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Andrew Davis, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, Raphaël Pichon, Carlo Rizzi, Alan Gilbert, James Gaffigan, Gianandrea Noseda, Emmanuelle Haïm, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Manfred Honeck. She has sung at Opéra national de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Santa fe Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, Opéra de Lille, Dutch National Opera, Vancouver Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Washington National Opera in such varied operas as Die Zauberflöte (Pamina), Le nozze di Figaro (Susanna), L’elisir d’amore (Adina), Alcina (Morgana), Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (Bellezza), Tannhäuser (Shepherd), Falstaff (Nannetta), Giulio Cesare (Cleopatra), Il Viaggio A Reims (Contessa di Folleville), Zaïde (title role), The Nose (Madame Podtochina’s Daughter), and Don Giovanni (Zerlina). Concert engagements have included appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, New World Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and Music of the Baroque Orchestra in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony Nos. 2 and 4, Handel’s Messiah, Telemann’s Der Tag des Gerichts, Handel’s Silete Venti, Bernstein’s West Side Story, and more. Ms. Fang has given performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Alice Tully Hall, as well as with the Verbier Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Ravinia Festival.

A native of Ningbo, China, Ms. Fang is the recipient of the Martin E. Segal Award, the Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award, the Rose Bampton Award of The Sullivan Foundation, The Opera Index Award, and First Prize of the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition. In 2009, she become one of the youngest singers to win one of China’s most prestigious awards – the China Golden Bell Award for Music. She has been hailed as “the most gifted Chinese soprano of her generation” by Ningbo Daily. Ms. Fang holds a Master’s degree and an Artist Diploma in Opera Study from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She is a former member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.