Luisi Withdraws, Young to Conduct

First cast change announcement of the San Francisco Symphony season: Fabio Luisi's planned April, 2019, program is postponed to a future season. Simone Young steps in with a completely different program. From the press release:

Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 8 pm
Friday, April 19, 2019 at 8 pm
Saturday, April 20, 2019 at 8 pm
Simone Young conductorLouis Lortie piano

San Francisco Symphony

RAVEL RAVEL RIMSKY-KORSAKOV

Pavane for a Dead PrincessPiano Concerto in G major Scheherazade, Opus 35

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Conductor Simone Young makes her San Francisco Symphony (SFS) debut April 18–20, 2019 at Davies Symphony Hall, replacing Fabio Luisi. This change is a result of scheduling conflicts with Luisi’s new appointment as Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Young will lead the SFS in Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Opus 35, and will be joined by pianist Louis Lortie for Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. Luisi’s program, which includes cellist Mario Brunello, has been postponed to a future season.

Simone Young is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, and this season returns to Berlin State Opera to conduct Die Frau ohne Schatten, and to Vienna State Opera with Lohengrin. She will also lead performances of From the House of the Dead, Jenufa, and Tannhäuser at Bavarian State Opera, and of Elektra at Zürich Opera. In addition to her April 2019 debut with the SFS, Young will also conduct orchestras in Stockholm, Lausanne, Berlin, Leipzig, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and Australia in the 2018–19 season.

Young’s previous positions include Principal Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic (1998-2002), Artistic Director of the Australian Opera (2001-2003), Principal Guest Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, and Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Music Director of the Hamburg Philharmonic (2005-2015). Along with her honorary doctorates from the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne, Young counts the Brahms Prize of Schleswig-Holstein and the Goethe Medal among her numerous awards and accolades. A “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” in France, member of the Order of Australia, and professor at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg, Young also has an extensive discography, most of which comes from her time as Chief Music Director of the Hamburg Philharmonic. Please visit Young’s website for more biographical information.