Awarded as ‘Most promising conductor’ at the 2025 Victoires de la Musique Classique awards, Simon Proust is part of a new generation of open-minded and eclectic French conductors who approach a wide repertoire with passion and rigour.

Noticed by Bernard Haitink in Lucerne and distinguished by several international awards, notably at the Princess Astrid Conducting Competition in 2018, Simon Proust studied conducting with Alain Altinoglu at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Paris, then at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Initially committed to contemporary music, he has worked with the Ensemble Intercontemporain (as assistant conductor and then guest conductor), the Ensemble Ars Nova, Les Métaboles and Multilatérale (as guest conductor). In recent years, he has expanded his repertoire, particularly in opera, to include ensembles playing on period instruments, first with Laurence Equilbey and Insula Orchestra, then since 2022 with Emmanuelle Haïm on opera productions at renowned opera houses and festivals (Dutch National Opera, Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Lille and Strasbourg opera houses). He works regularly with Les Siècles on numerous projects and productions, and more recently with the musicians of Le Banquet Céleste.

For the past ten years, Simon Proust has been conducting symphonic repertoire in France with the Pays-de-la-Loire National Orchestra, the Orchestre de Bretagne, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Toulon, the Orchestre national de Metz, the Orchestre national de Lille, the Orchestre d’Auvergne and the Orchestre Symphonique Région-Centre-Tours-Val-de-Loire. He also assisted Thomas Dausgaard with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra between 2016 and 2018.

In 2024-2025, he made his debut in the pit of the Bordeaux Opera, the Reims Opera and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with Les Frivolités Parisiennes in Donizetti's participatory opera Un élixir d'amour, conduct Bizet's Le Docteur Miracle at the Rouen Opera and also return during the season to the Picardy Orchestra, the Pays-de-la-Loire National Orchestra, the Nancy Symphony and Lyric Orchestra, and Les Siècles.

His projects for 2025-2026 include: A Little Magic Flute at the Lausanne Opera House, Le Docteur Miracle with the Rouen Opera Orchestra, Il Trionfo del Tempo with Le Banquet Céleste, and concerts with the Pays de la Loire National Orchestra, the Avignon National Orchestra, the Tours Symphony Orchestra, and the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique and Danse Alumni Orchestra. He will also assist Emmanuelle Haïm on the production of Handel's Semele at the DNO in Amsterdam.

Passionate about teaching and education, he will be in charge of the Atelier XX-XXI at the CNSMD in Lyon since September 2025, artistic and musical director of the Centre's Youth Orchestra since 2018, and of the Ensemble Cartésixte, a group he created in 2011 to promote symphonic music in a priority neighbourhood of the city of Tours with a view to opening up and sharing. He is also very committed to promoting amateur music-making and teaches conducting at the Maurice Ravel Conservatoire in Levallois-Perret.

Simon Proust was awarded ‘Talent Adami 2016’ and ‘Génération Spedidam 2022-2024’.

He has been represented by RSBA since 2025.