Stephanie Childress began her early musical career as a violinist. Now in her early twenties, she is making her mark as a conductor and has been likened to “other notable young conductors of the past such as Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Sir Simon Rattle” (Varsity). Her remarkable musicianship and command of a broad scope of repertoire has led to engagements with symphony orchestras, contemporary chamber groups and opera houses.

In the 2020/21 season, Childress makes several exciting appearances, including conducting debuts with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic. She has also been mentored by Simon Rattle through work with the London Symphony Orchestra for their new broadcasting season from LSO St Luke’s. In November 2020, she was invited to step in at short notice for Susanna Mälkki to conduct the LSO in a programme of Sibelius, Mendelssohn and Saariaho, broadcast on Medici.

Childress established her own ensemble, Orchestra Rheia in 2019, leading them to their make their first public performance of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in May of the same year. She was also appointed to the position of Principal Conductor of the London Lawyers’ Symphony Orchestra for the 2019/20 season. Other highlights of the season included leading the Chineke! Juniors Orchestra in concerts at the Southbank Centre and covering performances of Verdi’s Luisa Miller at English National Opera for conductor Alexander Joel.

Establishing herself in both symphonic repertoire and opera, Stephanie has already conducted a number of productions, including Jeremy Sams’ The Enchanted Island with the British Youth Opera, Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at St John’s College (Cambridge), Lennox Berkeley’s A Dinner Engagement for the Cambridge University Opera Society and the world premiere of Anna Semple’s opera The Next Station is Green Park at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Childress has participated in several prestigious competitions and most recently, was awarded 2^nd prize at the inaugural conducting competition, La Maestra, in Paris. She has attended masterclasses with esteemed conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Sian Edwards and Colin Metters, and most recently with Jukka-Pekka Saraste at the LEAD! Festival in Finland. Stephanie is currently a part of Barbara Hannigan’s Momentum scheme.