Simone Young AM (b. 1961) is one of the leading conductors of her generation. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, in 1985 she became the youngest person and the first woman to be appointed resident conductor with the Australian Opera Company. She made her debut at the Sydney Opera House with The Mikado and The Little Mermaid at the age of 25. From 1987, when she was named Young Australian of the Year, she was based overseas, where she worked with the Cologne Opera before joining the Berlin State Opera. She was the first woman to conduct at the Vienna State Opera and at the Bastille in Paris; engagements at Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera and the New York Metropolitan Opera followed. She was Director of Opera Australia from 2001 to 2003, a period in which she was applauded for developing the company’s musical standards and invigorating opera in Australia. Still the only woman in the world to have conducted a full cycle of Wagner's Ring, from 2005 to 2015 she was the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Music Director of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Based in Sussex, England, Young is returning to Australia in 2022 to become the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor.
