Pittsburgh Symphony's Manfred Honeck to Receive Honorary Degree from Catholic University of America

Manfred Honeck, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since the 2008-2009 season, will receive an honorary degree at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 14 as part of the university's graduation ceremony. The university's 127th Annual Commencement Ceremony will start at 10 a.m. on the steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Honeck will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, during the ceremony. Additional honorary degrees will be given to comedian Jim Gaffigan and his wife and creative partner, Jeannie, who will also give the commencement address; Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., president of Boston College; and Alejandro Monteverde, film director of "Bella" and "Little Boy."

"I am truly honored to receive this degree from such a prestigious university," said Honeck. "To be recognized amongst such august company in the magnificent Basiclica is an honor."

Together with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Honeck's widely celebrated performances and distinctive interpretations continue to receive international recognition. Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra regularly perform in major music capitals and festivals, including a close relationship with the Musikverein in Vienna. Honeck's successful work with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been extensively documented on recordings with the Reference and Exton labels. Recent releases - Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 8 and the Symphonic Suite from Janá?ek's opera Jen?fa, conceptualized by Honeck himself, and Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 - have garnered back-to-back Grammy Award nominations. The most recent recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 and a suite of Dvo?ák's Rusalka was released on May 13.

As a guest conductor, Honeck has worked with the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome. In the United States, Honeck has conducted the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular guest at the Verbier Festival.

Born in Austria, Honeck received his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. Many years of experience as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and at the helm of the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra have given his conducting a distinctive stamp. Honeck began his career as assistant to Claudio Abbado in Vienna. Subsequently, he was engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he was bestowed the prestigious European Conductor's Award in 1993. Honeck was one of three main conductors of the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig and in Oslo, he assumed the post of music director at the Norwegian National Opera and was engaged as principal guest conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2000 to 2006, he was music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm and, from 2008 to 2011, principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he resumed for another three years at the beginning of the 2013-2014 season.

Honeck has received honorary doctorates from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He has been artistic director of the "International Concerts Wolfegg" in Germany for more than 20 years.