Manfred Honeck is regarded as one of the world’s leading conductors, and his distinctive and revelatory interpretations receive international acclaim. He has recently completed his seventeenth year as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where his contract has been extended several times and runs until the end of the 2027/2028 season.. Under his leadership, the orchestra is celebrated both in Pittsburgh and abroad and has established itself as a cultural ambassador for the city of Pittsburgh through frequent tours. Guest appearances regularly take him and the orchestra to the great musical metropolises and to the most important European festivals. This collaboration is documented through numerous recordings that have been honoured with prestigious awards, including a Grammy.
In 2024/25 he conducted 14 multifaceted programmes and four commissioned works in Pittsburgh. He also returned to conduct the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Bruckner remained the main focus of his programming this season.
Born in Austria, he completed his musical training at the University of Music in Vienna. His work as a conductor is characterized by the experience he gained over many years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. He began his conducting career as assistant to Claudio Abbado in Vienna, before moving to the Zurich Opera House as First Kapellmeister, where he was honoured with the European Conducting Award. After early positions with the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic, he was appointed chief conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. From 2007 to 2011, he was General Music Director of the Stuttgart State Opera.
As a guest conductor, Manfred Honeck works with the leading international orchestras, including the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Bamberg Symphony, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and regularly conducts all the major American orchestras.
Manfred Honeck has been awarded honorary doctorates by several US universities and was awarded the title of Professor by the Austrian Federal President.
