Stephanie Childress
Karolina Heller
Childress has received widespread critical acclaim for her interpretations of Mozart’s operas, with critics noting that she “reveals herself to be a Mozartian to her fingertips” (Opera Today, 2023). She will make her Opéra de Paris debut in spring 2027, conducting a new production of Don Giovanni. Previous opera highlights include Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Hamburg Staatsoper, as well as Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne, the latter praised by Fiona Maddocks as a performance of “lithe vitality, detailed and assured” (The Guardian, 2022). A strong advocate for contemporary opera, she has conducted Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves at Detroit Opera and Simon Voseček’s Ogres at the Prague State Opera. This season, she led her first production of Verdi’s La Traviata at the Finnish National Opera, alongside a gala performance with the Opéra de Paris at the Palais Garnier.
Inspired by opera’s inherently collaborative nature, Childress brings the same spirit to her symphonic work, with a particular passion for cross‑disciplinary projects involving cinema, theatre, dance, and DJ‑led performances. Reimagining the concert experience lies at the heart of her artistic mission, and in June 2026 she collaborates with director Tom Morris on an exploration of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 at St John’s Smith Square.
Her 2025/26 season opened with her Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at the Hollywood Bowl, followed by the East Coast premiere of Anna Clyne’s Palette and Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony at The Juilliard School. She continues her tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC), leading programmes including Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto and Schumann’s Second Symphony. The latter launches a Schumann cycle that continues throughout the season with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, hr‑Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Further highlights include debuts with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and her Australian debut in April 2026 with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Her 2024/25 season concluded with debuts alongside the San Francisco, Houston, and San Diego Symphony Orchestras, as well as a return to The Cleveland Orchestra to conduct Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony at the closing concert of the Blossom Festival.
Born in London to a non‑musical family, Childress gravitated early toward the stage, often skipping school to attend rehearsals at the English National Opera. At age 16, she left formal schooling to pursue musicology at the University of Cambridge. She gained international attention in 2020 after winning Second Prize at the “La Maestra” Conducting Competition. She has previously held a residency at Villa Albertine, the Franco‑American network for arts and ideas, and is a member of the Franco‑British Young Leaders’ Program. From 2021 to 2023, she served as Assistant Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under Stéphane Denève, and was among the first conductors to join l’Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris.
