These concerts are presented in honor of the San Francisco Symphony Life Governors in gratitude for their incredible years of service.
Inside Music talks are supported in memory of Horacio Rodriguez.
Simone Young & Gautier Capuçon
April 17, 18 & 19, 2026
Overview
Internationally renowned Wagner interpreter Simone Young returns to the San Francisco Symphony to conduct a can’t-miss symphonic synopsis of Wagner’s massive Ring cycle, featuring her own selection of orchestral excerpts. In her serenely invigorating orchestral piece The Space Between Stars, Sydney-based composer Ella Macens “wanted to convey the energy and magic of our night sky.” Set in a single searing movement, Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 is bursting with sonic surprises—a music-box minuet here, a sudden silence there—as well as the requisite solo pyrotechnics, taken here by the acclaimed French cellist Gautier Capuçon.Concert Extras
An Inside Music Talk with Laura Prichard will be presented on stage one hour before each concert. Free to all ticketholders.
Program
Ella
Macens
The Space Between Stars
First SF Symphony Performances
Camille
Saint-Saëns
Cello Concerto No. 1
Richard
Wagner
Selections from The Ring of the Nibelung
(edition by Simone Young)
Sponsors
Simone Young, conductor
San Francisco Symphony
Simone Young
Conductor
Simone Young has served as chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony since 2022, where her current projects include a concert cycle of Wagner’s Ring. In 2024, she made her Bayreuth Festival debut and has returned in 2025 to conduct complete Ring cycles. From 2005 to 2015, she was artistic director of the Hamburg State Opera and general music director of the Hamburg Philharmonic. Earlier positions included conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic and artistic director of Opera Australia.
Recent and upcoming engagements include György Kurtág’s Fin de partie at Vienna State Opera, Lohengrin at the Berlin State Opera, and DAvid McVicar’s new Ring production at La Scala. This season, she also conducts the NDR Elbphilharmonie, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, WDR Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Berlin Radio Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Montreal Symphony.
From the beginning of her career, Simone Young gained international recognition as a leading interpreter of Wagner and Strauss. She conducted full Ring cycles at the Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera, and Hamburg State Opera. Her engagements have taken her to the Paris Opera; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Metropolitan Opera; Berlin State Opera; Bavarian State Opera, and Semproper Dresden.
In addition to her extensive operatic work, she has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, and BBC Symphony, among many others. She is the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Order of Australia and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France. In 2022, she was awarded honorary membership of the Vienna State Opera. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in April 2019.
Recent and upcoming engagements include György Kurtág’s Fin de partie at Vienna State Opera, Lohengrin at the Berlin State Opera, and DAvid McVicar’s new Ring production at La Scala. This season, she also conducts the NDR Elbphilharmonie, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, WDR Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Berlin Radio Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Montreal Symphony.
From the beginning of her career, Simone Young gained international recognition as a leading interpreter of Wagner and Strauss. She conducted full Ring cycles at the Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera, and Hamburg State Opera. Her engagements have taken her to the Paris Opera; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Metropolitan Opera; Berlin State Opera; Bavarian State Opera, and Semproper Dresden.
In addition to her extensive operatic work, she has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, and BBC Symphony, among many others. She is the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Order of Australia and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France. In 2022, she was awarded honorary membership of the Vienna State Opera. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in April 2019.
Gautier Capuçon
Cello
Gautier Capuçon is one of the foremost cello ambassadors in the 21st century. Performing worldwide with leading conductors and instrumentalists, he also created the Fondation Gautier Capuçon in 2022, dedicated to supporting outstanding young musicians.
Highlights of his 2026–27 season include a return to the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony and appearances with the Singapore Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, Filarmonica della Scala, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Sydney Symphony, and Boston Symphony, among others. He also tours with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, and Orchestre de Paris. In addition to the current trio tour with Lisa Batiashvili and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, he also performs Beethoven piano trios with Evgeny Kissin and Maxim Vengerov at Chicago’s Symphony Center and Carnegie Hall.
An exclusive recording artist for Erato (Warner Music), Capuçon has a rich discography that has earned numerous awards. His 2020 release Émotions reached gold status in France, topping the charts for more than 30 weeks. His next album, Sensations (2022), became the first classical recording to reach No. 1 in France’s all-genre charts, followed by Destination Paris (2023). In 2025, he released the album Gaïa with 16 new compositions commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony and premiered on the Great Performers Series. Capuçon made his San Francisco Symphony debut in November 2009 as a Shenson Young Artist.
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