Tears and joy as SSO returns to the live stage Weâre sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss Save Normal text size Advertisement Were she to sum up her year living with COVID-19, conductor Simone Young says she would have to resort to âunseemly languageâ. Young was in Barcelona after a whirlwind dash of dates between Japan, Minnesota, New York and Helsinki when, overnight, the pandemic emptied her packed calendar. In the months since, through Europeâs hard lockdowns and re-openings, Young has submitted to 22 COVID-19 tests, performed for large concert hall audiences and live streamed in near empty rooms.