Manfred Honeck was appointed the ninth Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in January 2007, and began his tenure at the start of the 2008-2009 season. His contract was extended for the second time in February 2012, now through the 2019-2020 season.

Following their successful European Tour in 2010 and the European Festival Tour 2011 with appearances at the major music festivals, such as BBC Proms, Lucerne, Grafenegg, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein or Musikfest Berlin, Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will return to Europe in October-November 2012. This year’s tour will take them to Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Luxembourg, and Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart in Germany.

During a week-long residency at the Musikverein in Vienna the orchestra will perform four concerts. Honeck's successful work in Pittsburgh is captured on CD by the Japanese label Exton. So far, Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben have been released to critical acclaim. Their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 won a 2012 International Classical Music Award (ICMA).

Honeck was born in Austria and studied music at the Academy of Music in Vienna. He is an accomplished violinist and violist, and spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

Manfred Honeck was a Counsellor at One Young World Summits: 2012 in Pittsburgh.