Manfred Honeck

Grammy-winning conductor Manfred Honeck's conducting career rapidly grew after he learned conducting from the inside as an orchestral musician. In 1987, conductor Claudio Abbado invited Honeck to assist him in conducting the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in Vienna. Honeck made his operatic debut with the Vienna Volksoper in 1989, leading Johann Strauss Jr.'s Die Fledermaus. In 1996, Honeck became the chief conductor of the MDR Symphony Orchestra of Leipzig. In 1998, he was named the principal guest conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic. In 2008, Honeck began a tenure with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra that has been extended through the late 2020s. Meanwhile, he appeared on the 2023 release Beethoven and Beyond alongside violinist María Dueñas and the Wiener Symphoniker, and he conducted the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with pianist Francesco Piemontesi on 2025's Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2; Three Intermezzi, Op. 117.