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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.

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.

Pittsburgh Youth Chorus is a collective of young people who have been empowered and inspired by the joy of singing. Led by a dedicated staff of choral professionals who specialize in the young voice, Pittsburgh Youth Chorus (PYC) serves the region through exceptional choral music education and artistry. With opportunities for singers ages 6-18 – and with a focus on personal development, community engagement, travel, and cultural exchange – PYC’s multi-faceted programing is celebrated for its ability to nurture the potential of its participants while fostering confidence, dedication, and a sense of belonging.

Through professional-level choral education and performance, Pittsburgh Youth Chorus strives to provide opportunities for a diverse group of children to realize their innate artistic potential and share experiences that enrich their lives while benefiting their families and communities.

PYC made its debut in 1983, joining the forces of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for a performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony. As the fledgling chorus grew, as did its list of collaborators – Pittsburgh Opera, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh Public Theater have all shared the stage with the group’s young musicians. PYC has also hosted artists of international acclaim, such as Kim Nazarian of New York Voices, Joe Negri (best known for his work on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood), the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble, and Elisabeth von Trapp. Beyond its home in western PA, Pittsburgh Youth Chorus has taken young singers to Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Oregon, and the United Kingdom. Upcoming highlights include a trip to Denver, CO in June 2020 and the opportunity to host Dr. Raymond Wise, gospel music specialist from Indiana University Bloomington, in October 2020.

The magic of PYC is in the relationships – bonds between the young singers that rise from making music together, and then transforms the music-making into a powerful and meaningful experience. Countless families have attested to how their lives have been touched as a result of being a part of the PYC family. Pittsburgh Youth Chorus is proud of its singers – past and present – and eager to continue serving our communities with programs that invest in the region’s cultural landscape and future leaders.

Noted for his ‘shimmering voice’ (BachTrack), American countertenor Reginald Mobley is highly sought after for the baroque, classical and modern repertoire.

Reginald leads a very prolific career on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the United States, where he resides, he became the first ever programming consultant for the Handel & Haydn Society following several years of leading H&H in his community engaging Every Voice concerts. He also holds the position of Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach with the Baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire, and is a regular guest with Cantata Collective, Musica Angelica, Agave Baroque, Charlotte Bach Akademie, Seraphic Fire, Quodlibet, Pacific Music Works, Bach Collegium San Diego, San Francisco Early Music Society and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Recent engagements have included concerts and recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, Blue Heron, Chatham Baroque, Washington Bach Consort, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and Early Music Seattle. Future highlights include Carmina Burana with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Messiah with the New York Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras, a debut at Carnegie Hall with Orchestra St Luke’s and at the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles.

In Europe, Reginald has been invited to perform with the OH! (Orkiestra Historycsna) in Poland, Vienna Academy in Austria (Musikverein), Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Balthasar Neumann Chor & Ensemble, Bach Society in Stuttgart, Holland Baroque Orchestra and in the autumn of 2021, he performed the role of Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea in Geneva, MUPA and Teatro di Vicenza in a European tour with The Budapest Festival Orchestra. He has also extensively toured with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra under the baton of John-Eliot Gardiner, and more recently performed a series of English music programmes in Germany with the Freiburger Barockorchester under the leadership of Kristian Bezuidenhout.

His recordings have been received with great critical acclaim, most recently American Originals with Agave Baroque ensemble, recorded with Acis Productions, which has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award, following A Lad’s Love with Brian Giebler on BRIDGE 9542 label. Reginald features on several albums with the Monteverdi Choir and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, including a recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Magnificat, where Reginald ‘encapsulates whimsical pathos’ (Classical Music Magazine) His solo recording debut with ALPHA Classics will be released in June 2023.

Acclaimed by the Financial Times as singing one of the "most delectably mellifluous Susanna to have been heard here for some years”, American soprano Joélle Harvey has built a reputation as one of finest singers of her generation, performing major roles on stages such as the Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne, Royal Opera House, Zurich Opera, Teatro La Fenice and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.  

The 2025-2026 season is anchored by the operas of Mozart: her debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Pamina in Santa Fe Opera’s new Christopher Luscombe production of The Magic Flute, conducted by Harry Bicket, and a reprisal of Pamina with The Metropolitan Opera. On the concert platform, Joélle performs Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst; Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Dalia Stasevska (debut); Bach’s Easter Oratorio and Magnificat with Bernard Labadie and the San Francisco Symphony; a programme of Mozart with the Slovenian Philharmonic and Jonathan Cohen, and Bach Cantatas with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Harvey began the 2024-2025 season with Dame Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque for Haydn’s Creation, and returned to Chicago later in the season for the composer’s Paukenmesse with the Chicago Symphony (Manfred Honeck conducting). She sang Mozart’s Requiem with the St. Louis Symphony conducted by Stéphane Denève, a programme of Poulenc and Ravel in a return to the Milwaukee Symphony, and Mahler’s 2nd Symphony Resurrection for conductor Robin Ticciati’s final season with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. She performed Handel’s Messiah with the Houston Symphony, selections from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Cincinnati Symphony, Bach’s Easter Oratorio & Magnificat with the Cleveland Orchestra and St. John Passion with Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Bernard Labadie, and Handel cantatas with Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society and Jonathan Cohen. During the summer of 2025, she returned to the role of Anne Trulove in Chas Rader-Shieber’s new production of The Rake’s Progress at Des Moines Opera.

Other recent highlights include performances with The English Concert cond. Harry Bicket, The Cleveland Orchestra cond. Franz Welser- Möst, the LA Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Gustavo Dudamel, Orchestra of St Luke’s cond. Bernard Labadie, Arcangelo cond. Jonathan Cohen and the Deutsches Symphony-Orchester cond. Robin Ticciati. Ms. Harvey has also performed alongside ensembles such as the Cincinnati Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and Philharmonia, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, the New World Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra. On the opera stage Joélle has performed on the greatest stages worldwide, including performing Pamina Die Zauberflote at the Metropolitan Opera and the title role in Handel’s Semele at Glyndebourne Festival Opera.  

A native of Bolivar, New York, soprano Joélle Harvey received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). She began her career training at Glimmerglass Opera (now The Glimmerglass Festival) and the Merola Opera Program.  

Called “a voice for this historic moment” (The Washington Post), GRAMMY® Award-winning baritone Will Liverman has been praised internationally for his versatility in dramatic and comedic operatic roles and his dedication and vision as a composer, artist, and advisor. He is the co-creator of soul opera The Factotum, which premiered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2023. His collection of original songs, The Dunbar/Moore Sessions, Volume II, is nominated for a 2026 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Compendium.

Liverman has appeared at English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, LA Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Washington National Opera, among many others. At The Met, Liverman made history as the first-ever Black Papageno in The Magic Flute; headlined Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which won a 2023 GRAMMY® Award; and starred in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. He premiered Kevin Puts’ The Manchurian Candidate at Minnesota Opera and René Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse at Opera Philadelphia, and served as Artistic Advisor for Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall.

Recent and upcoming concert highlights include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; performances at The Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center; and music festivals including the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Tanglewood, and Aspen.

Cedille Records released Liverman’s Show Me The Way (2024) and Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers (2021), which were both nominated for GRAMMY® Awards for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.  

A recipient of The Met’s Beverly Sills Artist Award, Liverman holds degrees from The Juilliard School (M.M.) and Wheaton College in Illinois (B.M.). www.willliverman.com.