During the 2025-26 season, Gemma New makes her HGO debut conducting The Barber of Seville. New is the Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The recipient of the prestigious 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, she was appointed an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2024. Highlights of New’s 2025-26 season include her debuts with the KBS Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, SWR Sinfonieorchester, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In the United States and Canada, she returns to lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada. In her fourth season leading the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, New conducts a string of fall 2025 performances in Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland, featuring the world premiere of an NZSO commission by Tabea Squire and collaborations with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and saxophonist Jess Gillam. She previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Associate Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony. New is a former Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center.