Tall Poppies

There have been many highlights in Simone Young's career. Alongside conducting most of the world’s great orchestras including the London and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the City of Birmingham Symphony, and the BBC Symphony at the BBC Proms, she was also the first woman to conduct at the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic, two orchestras she regularly returns to conduct today.  In 1983, at just 22, Simone Young had already joined the staff of Opera Australia. She studied at Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music prior to taking up her position with AO where she worked as a répétiteur, the title given to the person responsible for coaching singers and playing the piano for music and production rehearsals.  By 1986, the young Sydneyite was conducting at the Sydney Opera House and appointed a resident conductor with Opera Australia. Among her mentors were Australian musician luminaries, the likes of conductors Charles Mackerras, Richard Bonynge and Stuart Challender.  In the late 1980s, Simone an