Stephanie Childress
Strong ideas, lucid communication, and intensely focused energy are among the qualities that define Stephanie Childress among today’s most compelling young musicians. Her musicianship and command of a broad scope of repertoire have already led her to establish herself on both sides of the Atlantic.
Having been inspired to start conducting due to her love of opera, the Franco-British conductor began the 2023–2024 season making her Hamburg Staatsoper debut in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and returned to Glyndebourne’s autumn season for critically acclaimed performances of Don Giovanni. In the 2023–2024 season she will also make her conducting debut with Detroit Opera in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves. In 2023 it was also announced that Stephanie will take the position of Principal Guest Conductor of Barcelona Symphony Orchestra for the 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 seasons.
On the orchestral podium, Childress continues to be reinvited internationally and recently returned to the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. In North America she will have debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and NAC Orchestra. In Europe Childress will also make her first appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Dresden Philharmonic, and her Japanese debut with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. The 2022–2023 season marked the conclusion of her time as Assistant Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under Stéphane Denève and Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Childress has very strong ties to the French cultural scene following her second-prize win at the 2020 inaugural conducting competition, La Maestra. Since then, she has conducted some of the top French orchestras including l’Orchestre de Paris, the Paris Mozart Orchestra, and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.
Stephanie is an active supporter of the Tri-borough Music Hub, an award-winning organization for music education. She has taken part in several programs with the association, including leading the junior string ensemble at an “Artists for Inclusivity” event and speaking at the Youth Music Conference 2020 held at the Royal College of Music.