San Francisco Symphony has announced the creation of a new multiseason festival under the direction of Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck.
Beginning in the orchestra’s 2028–2029 season, the festival will “explore distinct fundamental themes of the human experience — such as birth, community, healing, death, and love — through works of the core symphonic repertoire,” according to Thursday’s announcement.
Honeck, born in 1958, had his birthday on Thursday, Sept. 17. He began his musical life as a violist in the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra. His initial appointment is for five years, during which time the conductor will join SFS for at least four weeks of concerts each season — two to three festival weeks as well as additional subscription series programs.
Coinciding with the San Francisco announcement, Honeck’s birthday also included news of his appointment as the seventh principal conductor in the 80-year history of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. He has been music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony since 2008, and his contract there runs through 2033. He first conducted SFS in 2017, in a program of music by Dmitri Shostakovich and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Since then, he has led five other subscription series programs, including in February of this year, conducting his own dramatic production of Mozart’s Requiem.
Expressing gratitude for his appointment, the conductor added “The city of San Francisco inspires creativity and has always stood for something special. It is my conviction that the classical masterworks we are blessed to serve speak directly to the human heart.
“I hope that this festival will become a passionate celebration of the human condition and a source of inspiration to many. We will work hard to present classical core repertoire in unprecedented ways allowing the sparks of beauty to spread through the Bay Area and beyond.”
SFS Music Director Designate Elim Chan welcomed the appointment, saying, “Manfred Honeck is a musician for whom I have long had profound admiration and respect, particularly for his extraordinary work ethic and the rare warmth he brings to every rehearsal and performance.
“He has this incredible, innate ability to make orchestras sound transcendent simply through his deep reverence for the music and the musicians he works with. I am thrilled that his festival will now have a home here at Davies Symphony Hall, running alongside the musical experiences this orchestra and I are actively creating.”
Honeck, said SFS CEO Matthew Spivey, “is among the most compelling musicians of our time. In his hands the great symphonic works stop being monuments and become stories about what it means to be human, and that is the whole premise of this Festival.
“Creating the position of Festival Director gives an artist of his stature something rare: the time and the freedom to build one idea across five seasons rather than a single week.”
Each festival season will be anchored by large-scale orchestral or choral masterworks, operas, or oratorios, brought to life in ways that reflect Honeck’s approach to musical storytelling. The festival will also feature smaller-scale works tied to each season’s distinct theme. Details about the first edition of the festival will be announced at a later date.
