Manfred Honeck is regarded as one of the world’s leading conductors whose distinctive and pioneering interpretations have reaped wide international acclaim. The 2022/2023 season will be his fifteenth as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Joint guest appearances regularly take the orchestra to the major music capitals as well as to the most important European festivals. Numerous recordings are testament to this successful collaboration.

Born in Austria, he completed his musical education at Vienna College of Music. He began his career as assistant to Claudio Abbado, then went to the Opernhaus Zürich as Principal Conductor, where he was awarded the European Conductor’s Prize. After positions with the MDR Sinfonieorchester and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, he was appointed Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Stockholm. From 2007 to 2011, Manfred Honeck served as General Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart. He has also been Artistic Director of the International Wolfegger Concerts for more than twenty-five years.

As a guest conductor, Manfred Honeck has been on the podium of leading international orchestras, including the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, the Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome and all the major American orchestras.

»Few artists … have such a smooth, dark, inviting voice«, according to ›The New York Times‹ describing this singer celebrated by the Wiener Staatsoper, New York Metropolitan Opera and La Scala Milan for his opera and recital performances. Matthias Goerne is one of today’s most versatile and sought-after baritones and has collaborated with almost all renowned conductors and orchestras. Most recently he was Artist in Residence at the New York Philharmonic as well as at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. He is also an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.  Among last season’s much acclaimed performances were those with Jaap van Zweden and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France and Antonio Pappano and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Matthias Goerne has also reached the peak of international acclaim as an ambassador for German Lieder. For his many recordings, this sought-after singer has received numerous awards, including a Grammy, the German Record Critics’ Prize and an Echo Klassik for ›Singer of the Year‹. At the beginning of 2023, his latest album ›Schubert Revisited‹ was released on the Deutsche Grammophon label, including some of his previously unheard orchestral arrangements of Schubert’s songs, performed in collaboration with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen. Matthias Goerne has been associated with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen for many years. A recent highlight was the joint performance of Brahms’ ›Requiem‹ in Bremen Cathedral.