Simone Young
(c) Nic Walker
Australian conductor Simone Young, 58, has been appointed Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She will take up her post in 2022. The year before she will conduct several concerts in Sydney as designated Chief Conductor. During her initial three-year tenure (2022 to 2024), Simone Young will conduct the orchestra each year for eight weeks and will continue to work with the orchestra on artistic planning and programming, while fulfilling her numerous ongoing conducting engagements in Europe and the United States.
The Sydney-born conductor will lead the SSO onto the stage of the refurbished Sydney Opera House Concert Hall when she takes up the new role in 2022. This month, the orchestra will move out of the Sydney Opera House to enable a two-year renovation of the Concert Hall.
Young replaces David Robertson, who has vacated the position after six seasons, and is only the third Australian to be appointed chief conductor in the orchestra’s 87-year history, after Sir Charles Mackerras (1982-1985) and Stuart Challender (1987-1991).
