Manfred Honeck Named Philharmonia Principal Conductor and San Francisco Symphony Festival Director

Key facts

• Manfred Honeck was named Philharmonia Orchestra Principal Conductor and San Francisco Symphony Festival Director in announcements made on September 17.
• Honeck begins his five-year Philharmonia term in September 2028, succeeding Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and becomes the seventh Principal Conductor in the orchestra's 80-year history.
• He will work with the Philharmonia for at least eight weeks each season; he first conducted the orchestra in 2024 and returned in January 2025 for a programme including Bruckner's Symphony No. 7.
• The Philharmonia was founded in 1945; previous Principal Conductors include Otto Klemperer, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Christoph von Dohnányi, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Rouvali.
• Honeck's five-year San Francisco Festival Director appointment starts with the 2028–29 season, with at least four weeks of conducting per season, two to three of them for the annual festival.
• San Francisco Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey said festivals will centre on broad themes such as love, birth or death, anchored by large-scale orchestral or choral works potentially including operas and oratorios.
• Honeck has been Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director since 2008, with a contract running through the 2032–33 season, making him the longest-serving Music Director in its history.
• Elim Chan becomes San Francisco Symphony Music Director in the 2027–28 season, with responsibilities separate from Honeck's festival role.
• Honeck's Pittsburgh recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and Barber's Adagio for Strings won a Grammy Award in 2018.
• Honeck previously served as Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and General Music Director of the Stuttgart State Opera, after starting as a violist with the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra.