Young was the first female conductor at the Vienna State Opera in 1993. She conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra when they performed Elena Kats-Chernin's "Deep Sea Dreaming" at the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Sydney. In November 2005, she was the first female conductor to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Her discography includes all the symphonies of Anton Bruckner and the complete "Ring Cycle" of Richard Wagner; she was the first woman to have recorded either of these cycles. She has also recorded the complete cycle of Brahms' symphonies.