Karina Canellakis, celebrated internationally for her emotionally charged performances, technical mastery and interpretive depth, is one of the most sought-after conductors of her generation. She is principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. This season Karina will be a guest artist-in-residence at the famous Vienna Musikverein and will conduct four different orchestras: the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, the London Philharmonic and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. The four programs present a range of famous works, including Shostakovich's powerful 8th Symphony, Janacek's Glagolitic Mass and Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony. Karina's 23-24 guest engagements include her debut with the New York Philharmonic as well as return invitations to the Boston Symphony and Cleveland Orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and NDR Elbphilharmonie. After last season's highly successful tour of Germany with the London Philharmonic and Daniil Trifonov, Karina is leading the orchestra again to Munich, Athens and Vienna. In the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Tivoli-Vredenburg in Utrecht, she presents exciting contemporary pieces and commissioned works as well as well-known masterpieces with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic. One of the special highlights is a concert performance of Wagner's Siegfried as part of the renowned Zaterdag matinee series. After the great successes of "Kat'a Kabánova" and "The Cunning Little Vixen" with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic in previous seasons, she continues her series of Janáček operas with "The Makropulos Affair". She will also conduct “Der Rosenkavalier” for the Santa Fe Opera in summer 2024. Her concert performances of Wagner's "Die Walküre", "Tristan und Isolde" and "Siegfried" received critical acclaim, and she conducted critically acclaimed productions of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin", Mozart's "Don Giovanni", "The Magic Flute", "Le nozze di Figaro", David Lang's "the loser" and Peter Maxwell Davies' "The Hogboon".

The Egyptian soprano Fatma Said studied at the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin and at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Described as a “discovery” by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Fatma Said presents herself not only in opera houses and on stages, but also in a humanitarian capacity as an ambassador for culture and education in her homeland. In 2016 she made her sensational role debut as Pamina in Mozart's “Magic Flute” at the Teatro alla Scala under the direction of Adam Fischer. Fatma Said has a reputation as an exceptionally talented musician and was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, signing an exclusive contract with Warner Classics in 2019. Last season, Fatma Said performed, among other things, Mahler's Fourth Symphony and Fauré's Reqiuem, as well as recital performances at the Wigmore Hall and the Bayerischer Rundfunk radio station, as well as in China with the Teatro alla Scala as Pamina.

Highlights of the 2020/21 season include performances with the Orchester Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and the Orchester national de France, a gala concert at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, recitals at the Wigmore Hall and at the Victoria de los Ángeles Festival Barcelona. Other highlights include Mozart's Reqiuem at the BBC Proms, "The Creation" and Mahler's Eighth Symphony under Adam Fischer at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, as well as Strauss Lieder with the Royal Philhamronic Orchestra, performances with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under the Management by Andris Nelsons and Omer Meir Wellber. Fatma Said has also given concerts in Vienna, Salzburg and Lucerne, including a gala concert at the United Nations in Geneva.
In 2016, Fatma was honored by Egypt's National Council for Women, and she is also the first opera singer to be awarded the state's Creativity Prize for her outstanding achievements at the international level.