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Manfred Honeck has firmly established himself as one of the world’s leading conductors, whose distinctive and revelatory interpretations receive great international acclaim. As Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where his contract runs through the 2027-2028 season, he has entered his 17th season. Celebrated at home and abroad, he and the orchestra continue to serve as cultural ambassadors for the city of Pittsburgh. Guest appearances include Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, as well as the major venues of Europe and leading festivals such as the BBC Proms, Salzburg Festival, Musikfest Berlin, Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, and Grafenegg Festival. In summer 2024, he leads the Pittsburgh Symphony in a nine-city European Festivals Tour, starting with their appearance as the only American orchestra at the prestigious Salzburg Festival and concluding at Vienna Konzerthaus.

Manfred Honeck's successful work in Pittsburgh is being extensively documented by recordings on the Reference Recordings label, featuring works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and others. They have received a multitude of outstanding reviews and awards, including many GRAMMY® nominations, and he and the orchestra won the GRAMMY® for "Best Orchestral Performance" in 2018. The most recent recording, Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, paired with Resurrexit by Mason Bates, was released in July 2024 to great critical acclaim.

Born in Austria, Manfred Honeck completed his musical training at the University of Music in Vienna. His many years of experience as a member of the viola section in the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra have had a lasting influence on his work as a conductor, and his art of interpretation is based on his determination to venture deep beneath the surface of the music. He began his conducting career as assistant to Claudio Abbado and as director of the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra. Subsequently, he was engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he was awarded the European Conducting Prize in 1993. He has since served as one of three principal conductors of the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, as Music Director of the Norwegian National Opera, Principal Guest Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm. In November 2023, he was appointed Honorary Conductor by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, following decades of close collaboration.

Manfred Honeck also has a strong profile as opera conductor. In his four seasons as General Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, he conducted premieres of operas by Berlioz, Mozart, Poulenc, Strauss, Verdi, and Wagner. He has also appeared as guest at leading houses such as Semperoper Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Royal Opera of Copenhagen, and the Salzburg Festival. In 2020, Beethoven’s anniversary year, he conducted a new staging of Fidelio (1806 version) at the Theater an der Wien. In autumn 2022, he made his much-acclaimed debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, leading a revival of Mozart’s Idomeneo. Beyond the podium, Manfred Honeck has designed a series of symphonic suites, including Janáček’s Jenůfa, Strauss’s Elektra, Dvořák’s Rusalka as well as Puccini's Turandot which he regularly performs around the globe. The most recent arrangement, of Strauss’s Salome, was premiered by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2023.

As a guest conductor, Manfred Honeck has worked with all leading international orchestras, including Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome and the Vienna Philharmonic. In the United States, he has conducted all major US orchestras, including New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony. He has also been Artistic Director of the International Concerts Wolfegg in Germany for thirty years.

In 2024-2025, Manfred Honeck will conduct fourteen wide-ranging programs and several special projects in Pittsburgh, including all four of the season's world premieres and commissions. He also will return to the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. In Bruckner's anniversary year of 2024, he will continue to place a special focus on the music of this composer.

Manfred Honeck holds honorary doctorates from several universities in the United States and was awarded the honorary title of Professor by the Austrian Federal President. In 2018, the jury of the International Classical Music Awards declared him "Artist of the Year".

Jeanine De Bique has been described as “one of the most exciting sopranos to catch onstage these days. Animated, joyful, and technically flawless, the Trinidadian vocalist with the light, starry voice that soars before landing on audiences’ ears like a musical meteor shower” (Operawire) and a “sheer endless wealth of colour and nuances[…] a radiant, free-floating timbre.” (Opernwelt).  

The past few seasons saw several important role and house debuts: as Isabel in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at Opernhaus Zurich, Alcina in Handel’s Alcina in Robert Carsen’s acclaimed production at l’Opéra National de Paris followed by her return as Susanna/Le nozze di Figaro, Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer, Anaï in Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Agathe in Weber’s Der Freischütz with Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Christoph Eschenbach, Bess/Porgy and Bess and La Folie in Rameau’s Platée at Theater an der Wien, conducted by William Christie and followed by her return as Nicrotis/Belshazzar. At Houston Grand Opera, she debuted the role of Maria in excerpts from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. Most recently she returned to the Salzburger Festspiele for Purcell’s Indian Queen under the baton of Teodor Currrentzis and to the BBC PROMS for Schumann’s Paradies und die Peri with London Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle.  

Equally sought after in concert, Ms. De Bique gave her solo recital debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall, appeared at Lincoln Centre at the Mostly Mozart Festival and at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal’s summer festival and performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck, London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, Martin Fröst and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic and Herbert Blomstedt, the Dallas Symphony, New World Symphony Miami, St Louis Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, both conducted by Wayne Marshall.  

Mirrors, Ms. De Bique’s first solo-CD with Concerto Köln, was released by Berlin Classics in 2021 to outstanding reviews. The album received the 2022 Opus Klassik Award for best solo recording Vocal, a Diapason d’Or découverte, the Edison Klassiek award as well as the Editor’s Choice award in Gramophone, Fono Forum and Opera Magazines. The program was presented throughout Europe and the US, including Carnegie Hall in New York.  

Previous opera highlights include Annio in Peter Sellar’s production of La Clemenza di Tito at the Salzburg Festival and De Nationale Opera Amsterdam, Susanna/Le Nozze di Figaro at San Francisco Opera, Helena/A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Deutsche Oper Berlin, the title role of Handel’s Rodelinda at Opéra de Lille, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm and released on DVD by Erato (winner of the Opus Klassik Award 2020) and Aida in the world premiere of Caruso a Cuba by Micha Hamel at De Nationale Opera Amsterdam.  

Early on in her career, she had the pleasure to perform Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the late Lorin Maazel in Munich and New York respectively. Consecutive concert invitations in repertoire ranging from Handel to Beethoven, Mahler and Arvo Part have lead to appearances at the Aspen and Ravinia Festivals, Lincoln Centre New York, Philharmonie de Paris, Hollywood Bowl et al with a diverse list of conductors and ensembles such as Raphaël Pichon, Richard Egarr, Marin Alsop, Tughan Sokievh, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Melbourne Symphony, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  

Reflecting her versatility and artistic curiosity, Ms. De Bique is featured on Joachim Horsley’s album and video release Caribbean Nocturnes with the single "Le M’ouri,” which fuses classical sound and Latin Caribbean Afro rhythm. She also made a guest appearance in season 2 of the Netflix series The OA.  

Ms. De Bique holds a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Notable awards include the Arleen Auger Prize at the Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition and Third Prize in the Viotti International Music Competition. She is a recipient of the Youth Ambassador for Peace, awarded by the National Commission of UNESCO, Trinidad and Tobago. 

Known as one of the finest singer-actors of his generation, JUNO Award-winning and Grammy-nominated Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins has been hailed by Opera Today as having “a glistening, malleable baritone of exceptional beauty, and the technique to exploit its full range of expressive possibilities from comic bluster to melting beauty.” 

Having established himself as a prominent leading artist throughout the United States and Canada, Joshua appears regularly at The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company and The Santa Fe Opera amongst many others, and has performed under the baton of such renowned conductors as Sir Andrew Davis, Alan Gilbert, Marin Alsop, James Gaffigan, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Nicholas Carter and Enrique Mazzola. 

His most personal work, Songs for Murdered Sisters, is a song cycle by composer Jake Heggie and author Margaret Atwood, conceived by Hopkins in remembrance of his sister, Nathalie Warmerdam. Following the critically acclaimed film and JUNO-nominated album releases, the chamber version of Songs for Murdered Sisters received its live World Premiere with the composer at the piano at Houston’s Rothko Chapel in March 2022, in partnership with Houston Grand Opera. In 2023, he gave the live World Premiere of the work's orchestral version with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Shelley in Ottawa, Toronto and Kingston, and the European premiere of the cycle at the Trasimeno Festival in Perugia, Italy with pianist Angela Hewitt. 

Latest role debuts have included Belcore in L’Elisir d’amore at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the title role in Billy Budd with Central City Opera, and Athanaël in a concert version of Massenet’s Thaïs with Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and recorded for Chandos Records, for which he won a JUNO Award. Past seasons have featured his signature roles of Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at the Glyndebourne Festival, Verbier Festival, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington National Opera and Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia in house debuts at Opéra de Rouen and Den Norske Opera in Oslo, as well as The Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, and the Glimmerglass Festival in a new production by Francesca Zambello; Guglielmo in Così fan tutte in his company debut at Oper Frankfurt and at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Silvio in Pagliacci at Palm Beach Opera, directed by James Robinson; Papageno in The Magic Flute at The Metropolitan Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Washington National Opera, Vancouver Opera; and Marcello in La bohème at the Canadian Opera Company and Houston Grand Opera in a new production by John Caird. 

Joshua has developed a reputation for his work in contemporary operas by celebrated American composers, creating leading roles for the World Premieres of new works both in the U.S. and Europe. Recent original roles have included Niccolò Machiavelli in the premiere of Mohammed Fairouz and David Ignatius’s The New Prince in his company debut at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam; Harry Bailey in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s It’s a Wonderful Life at Houston Grand Opera and in his debut at San Francisco Opera; and creating the role of Orpheus in the World Premiere of Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice for his company debut at LA Opera, which he also performed at The Metropolitan Opera including a worldwide simulcast as part of The MET’s Live in HD series. Joshua received his first Grammy nomination in 2023 when the MET’s live recording of Eurydice was nominated for Best Opera Recording. 

Joshua made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Ping in Turandot in the 2009-10 season, conducted by Andris Nelsons. His notable past engagements have also included Cecil in Sir David McVicar’s new production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda for The Metropolitan Opera, his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Tadeusz in The Passenger in David Pountney’s acclaimed production, and his role debut as the title character in Don Giovanni with Utah Opera. Further highlights include the role of Junior in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place with New York City Opera, Sid in Albert Herring at The Santa Fe Opera under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, Dr. Falke in a new production of Die Fledermaus at The Santa Fe Opera, Mercutio in Bartlett Sher’s production of Roméo et Juliette with Lyric Opera of Chicago and The Metropolitan Opera, and Valentin in Faust at Houston Grand Opera and Washington National Opera. 

Past concert engagements have included his European concert debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Spain, performing Peter Lieberson’s Songs of Love and Sorrow, his Edinburgh International Festival debut as Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos under the baton of Lothar Koenigs, Bach’s Magnificat with Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the baton of Robert Spano at Carnegie Hall, and both Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 and Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert. Mr. Hopkins toured North America with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Handel’s Messiah in Quebec, Montreal, Los Angeles, and at Carnegie Hall in New York. He has also performed and recorded Bach’s St. John Passion with Portland Baroque Orchestra and Arion Orchestre Baroque. Joshua has performed Handel’s Messiah with San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra. Additional highlights of his concert schedule include his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy in performances of Peer Gynt, Haydn’s Creation with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum with the San Francisco Symphony, Die Zauberflöte with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra led by Bernard Labadie, and Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with Hans Graf and the Houston Symphony. 

Profoundly committed to the art of song, Mr. Hopkins’ first recital disc, Let Beauty Awake, features songs of Barber, Bowles, Glick, and Vaughan Williams on the ATMA Classique label. He has given recitals in Chicago, Montreal, New York, Santa Fe, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. Highlights of his varied appearances at Carnegie Hall include the world premiere of Michael Tilson Thomas’ Rilke Songs and a concert highlighting Benjamin Britten alongside Ian Bostridge and Iestyn Davies. Joshua has collaborated with Julius Drake, Richard Goode, Marc-André Hamelin, Angela Hewitt, Graham Johnson, and Warren Jones. 

Mr. Hopkins has won numerous awards and distinctions. Most recently, he won a JUNO Award for his portrayal of Athanaël in Chandos Record’s recording of Massenet’s Thaïs in concert with Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. He was the winner of both the Verbier Festival Academy’s 2008 Prix d’Honneur and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2006. He was also a prizewinner at the prestigious 2006 ARD Musikwettbewerb in Munich and at the 2005 Operalia Competition held in Madrid. In 2002, José Carreras presented him with the first-place prize in the Julián Gayarre International Singing Competition in Pamplona. Joshua has also received prizes from the George London Foundation, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, and won the Sylva Gelber Foundation Award from the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Audiences and critics alike have praised The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh’s programming, saying, “EXCEPTIONAL and MEMORABLE… I’m still talking about it,” “One of the finest music events I have ever attended,” and “the Mendelssohn never ceases to amaze me… This city should be proud of its choir” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). 

Critically acclaimed as one of the finest choruses in the country, MCP is the “voice of the greater Pittsburgh region” — whether premiering a choral work composed by Stewart Copeland of The Police at a rock venue, or performing Mozart with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Unlike other professional arts organizations, MCP is proudly comprised of mostly amateur singers with professional-caliber talent, whose day jobs vary from postal clerk to physician to casino card dealer. MCP singers give generously of their talent, passion, and commitment to share the magic of live music with the widest possible audience, within Heinz Hall and throughout the community. 

For more than a century, MCP has proudly partnered with the PSO as its “chorus of choice,” bringing the joys of symphonic choral music to tens of thousands of people each year. MCP has performed under the batons of world-renowned conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Tilson Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, André Previn, Sir Neville Marriner, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Helmuth Rilling, Ingo Metzmacher, Richard Hickox, Zdenek Mácal, and Manfred Honeck.

MCP embraces its long legacy of performances, recordings, and commissions that reimagine choral music for today’s audiences and bring bold, unique programming to the Pittsburgh region, such as the recent world premieres of Satan’s Fall by the Police’s Stewart Copeland and The Times They Are A-Changin’ by composer and conductor Steve Hackman. Under the leadership of its new Robert Page Music Director Daniel Singer, MCP looks forward to continuing its tradition of excellence while seeking innovative ways to encourage broader community participation in MCP as singers and as members of the audience. 

MCP fosters the next generation of choral singers and audience members through its educational program, the Junior Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh (JMCP). Founded in 1986, JMCP is the region’s premier high school choral training and performance program. Annually, JMCP attracts singers from more than a dozen school districts, providing youth with a challenging musical environment in which to develop their skills and encouraging them to be lifelong participants in the arts.