Sir Donald Runnicles

Sir Donald Runnicles is Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, General Music Director of Deutsche Oper Berlin (DOB) and in his final season as the Atlanta Symphony’s Principal Guest Conductor. Runnicles is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2022-23 season, Maestro Runnicles leads new productions of Fidelio and Arabella at the DOB, along with revival performances of Elektra, Tosca and Tristan und Isolde. For the San Francisco Opera, he leads a new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten. He makes his debut with the Dresden Philharmonic, and also conducts the Minnesota Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony.

Runnicles enjoys close relationships with many of the most significant opera companies and orchestras. His previous posts include Music Director of the San Francisco Opera, Principal Conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and General Music Director of the Theater Freiburg and Orchestra.

His discography includes recordings of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Britten’s Billy Budd and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.

Runnicles was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was appointed OBE in 2004 and was made a Knight Bachelor in 2020.