Sir Mark Elder served as the Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester from 2000 to 2024 and is now its Conductor Emeritus. Since 2022, he has been the principal guest conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic. He previously held roles as music director of the English National Opera (1979–1993) and the Rochester Philharmonic in New York (1989–1994), as well as principal guest conductor of the City of Birmingham and the BBC Symphony Orchestras. From September 2025, he has been the music director at the Palau de les Arts. He conducts leading orchestras on the international scene, including the Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Berlin and London Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Boston, Chicago, and London Symphony Orchestras. He is a principal artist with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, collaborates regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and has conducted at the Proms for many years.

He also frequently performs at major opera houses: Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival. He has also appeared as a guest at the Bayreuth Festival (where he was the first English conductor to lead a new production), as well as in Chicago, Munich, Amsterdam, Zurich, Geneva, Berlin, and at the Bregenz and Aix-en-Provence Festivals. His recent engagements include Carmen in Paris; Benvenuto Cellini in Amsterdam; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in San Francisco; Lohengrin, Peter Grimes, Aida, and La forza del destino at Covent Garden; Le prophète at the Aix-en-Provence Festival; Samson et Dalila at the Metropolitan Opera; and Luisa Miller and Turandot at Les Arts.

Sir Mark Elder has recorded with the Hallé Orchestra (The Dream of Gerontius and the complete Ring cycle), the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra (Lohengrin), the City of Birmingham and the BBC Symphony Orchestras. He has also worked with the Age of Enlightenment, the Royal Opera House, and the English National Opera. His repertoire spans Verdi, Strauss, Wagner, and contemporary music. Furthermore, he served as the artistic director of the Opera Rara label, recording several bel canto pieces. At Les Arts, he has conducted the OCV in works such as the Symphony of Psalms, Ein Heldenleben, Das Lied von der Erde, Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, and Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ.