Head of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, London, she has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland, Berlin Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Ensemble Modern, St Petersburg Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, the Orchestre de Paris, London Sinfonietta and the Hallé.

She made her opera debut in 1986, conducting Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny for Scottish Opera, and her Royal Opera debut in 1988 with The Knot Garden.

Formerly Music Director of ENO (1993–5), she has conducted productions in Munich, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Vienna, Paris and Aspen.

She conducted the world premieres of Turnage’s Greek and Coraline.

Recent and future opera engagements include: The Rape of Lucretia and La traviata (Theater an der Wien, Vienna); The Rake’s Progress and Bluebeard’s Castle (Scottish Opera); David Bruce’s Nothing (Glyndebourne); Adès’s The Tempest (Frankfurt); and King Priam in concert at the Brighton Festival.