Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Manfred Honeck is widely regarded as one of the world's leading conductors, celebrated for his distinctive and revelatory interpretations that have garnered international acclaim. As Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he is now in his 19th season, he continues to shape the orchestra’s artistic identity with a deep sense of purpose and passion. His tenure, recently extended through the 2032–2033 season, has seen the orchestra flourish artistically while strengthening its role as a cultural ambassador for the city of Pittsburgh. Celebrated at home and abroad, the orchestra has appeared at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, as well as at major venues throughout Europe and prestigious festivals such as the BBC Proms, Salzburg Festival, Musikfest Berlin, Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, and Grafenegg Festival.

Manfred Honeck's acclaimed Pittsburgh tenure is reflected in an extensive discography on the Reference Recordings label, featuring works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and others. These recordings have received widespread critical acclaim and multiple GRAMMY® nominations, including a win for "Best Orchestral Performance" in 2018. In August 2025, he and the orchestra released Requiem: Mozart’s Death in Words and Music, an original concept reimagining a funeral mass for Mozart, combining the composer’s Requiem with Gregorian chant, poetry, and other choral works by Mozart. 

Born in Austria, Manfred Honeck completed his musical training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. His years as a violist with the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra have had a lasting influence on his work as a conductor, and his approach to interpretation is rooted in a desire to venture deep beneath the surface of the music. He began his conducting career as an 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 2023, he was appointed Honorary Conductor by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, following decades of close collaboration.  

Manfred Honeck also enjoys a distinguished profile as an 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 a guest conductor at major institutions such as Semperoper Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin, the 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 created 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, based on Strauss's Arabella, received its premiere with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2025.

As a guest conductor, Manfred Honeck appears regularly with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra London, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In the United States, he has conducted many of the nation’s most distinguished ensembles. He has also been Artistic Director of the International Wolfegg Concerts in Germany for over three decades. 

In summer 2026, he returns to the Salzburg Festival to conduct Ariadne auf Naxos with the Vienna Philharmonic. He will also lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on a European festival tour, with appearances in Salzburg, Lucerne, Amsterdam, Hamburg, and at the opening concert of the season at the Vienna Konzerthaus. In the 2026/27 season, he will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death with special programs and a new commission from Jüri Reinvere, to be presented worldwide.

Manfred Honeck holds honorary doctorates from several universities in the United States and has been 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." In 2026, he received the Julio Kilenyi Medal from the American Bruckner Society, an honor bestowed on distinguished interpreters of Bruckner.

Born in 2011 in Japan, Himari has been described as a once in a generation talent. She has captured the attention of the classical music world with her incredible technique, her playful and imaginative interpretations, and her ability to communicate an emotional depth; all from the unique and refreshing perspective of a young artist. Himari is one of the youngest ever applicants at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studies with renowned teacher Ida Kavafian. 

In the 2024/25 season, Himari will make her European debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker performing Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.1 with Zubin Mehta. She will also make her debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in their New Year’s Eve concert with Marin Alsop at the Kimmel Center Verizon Hall performing three pieces: Kreisler ‘La Gitana’, Waxman ‘Carmen Fantasie’, and Gardel/Williams ‘Por una cabeza’. In Japan, Himari will appear with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, and she will perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto as soloist on tour with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. In addition, she will embark on a recital tour of Japan with pianists Yoshitaka Suzuki and Akiko Mimata. 

Since making her orchestral soloist debut at the age of six, Himari has worked with orchestras such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, and Gunma Symphony Orchestra, among others. Himari has performed recitals across the United States, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Ukraine, and Japan. 

Himari has won top prizes at several international competitions, including the International Competition for Young Violinists in Honor of Karol Lipinski and Henryk Wieniawski, the 12th Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition (Belgium), the 26th Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition (Italy), the 20th Schelkunchik International Music Competition (Russia), and the Kogan International Violin Competition (Belgium). In 2019, she participated in the Internationale Sommer Akademie Mozarteum Salzburg. She was the youngest participant in the academy's concert at the 2019 Salzburg Festival and received an award for her performance. Himari won the audience prize at the ‘Mini Violini 2023’ held as part of the Montreal International Violin Competition. 

Himari began her violin studies at the age of three under the tutelage of Koichiro Harada and Machie Oguri. Himari plays the 1717 "Hamma" Stradivarius Violin on generous loan from Mr. Yusaku Maezawa. Her bow is on loan from the Munetsugu Collection.