Recognised internationally as a conductor of the highest calibre, Stéphane Denève took up the post of Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in September 2005 and has since won unanimous praise from audiences and critics alike for his performances and programming. He has conducted the Orchestra at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Radio France Festival Présences in Paris, and at the Vienna Konzerthaus. At home in a broad range of repertoire and a champion of new music, he has a particular affinity with the music of his native France, and has conducted works by Grétry, Berlioz, Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, Roussel, and Poulenc. In recent years he has also premiered a number of works by the contemporary French composer Guillaume Connesson, many of which are dedicated to him.
He has conducted major orchestras throughout Europe, North America, and Australia, most recently making appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, San Francisco Symphony, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He has forged close relationships with such leading solo artists as Natalie Dessay, Nina Stemme, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piotr Anderszewski, Leif Ove Andsnes, Lars Vogt, Nikolai Lugansky, Emanuel Ax, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Nikolaj Znaider, Pinchas Zukerman, Leonidas Kavakos, Vadim Repin, and Gil Shaham. As an operatic conductor Stéphane Denève has appeared with The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival Opera,
De Nederlandse Opera, Théâtre royal de la Monnaie, Opéra national de Paris–Bastille, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Cincinnati Opera.