Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

A recipient of the Takaya Urakawa Foundation Grant awarded to promising young musicians, Moon Doh is associate conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, appointed by Music Director Manfred Honeck in 2021. In this role, he has conducted subscription, education, family and movie concerts as well as sold-out performances with artists such as Sting. An active community builder, he has presented Beethoven’s string quartets in various libraries across Pittsburgh, held Discovery and Drinks talks in different breweries, and led children’s concerts in diverse venues including the MuseumLab in collaboration with Mo Willems. 

As the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Flora Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, Germany prior to his Pittsburgh appointment, he initiated the orchestra’s first ever live stream concerts that reached an unprecedented number of audiences across the globe over three seasons. He not only led exciting subscription concerts but also worked closely with music pedagogues in order to give young people a chance to learn and experience orchestral music in a meaningful way. 

In recent years, Moon has worked with many orchestras across Europe: WDR Funkhausorchester, Duisburger Philharmoniker, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, and Bergische Symphoniker, Dortmunder Philharmoniker in Germany, Romanian Chamber Orchestra in Romania, Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra in Spain, Sinfonietta Cracovia in Poland, and Pleven Philharmonic in Bulgaria to name a few. Moon's latest collaborations in the US include debuts with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Symphoria.

Born in South Korea, Moon spent much of his childhood in the Philippines, Russia, and the United States. At the age of nine, he began cello and piano studies in Russia and has since performed with various youth and student orchestras across the globe. As a passionate advocate for young rising artists, he led concerts with the All-State Orchestra of Hessen in Germany. In addition, he was also the conductor of the Under-16 Orchestra of Tonhalle Düsseldorf and regularly coached the Youth Orchestra of Essen.

A staunch believer in empowering others, Moon has actively worked with asylum seekers in Hungary, children in underserved areas of Bangladesh, and inmates in Baltimore as the president of a student organization while completing his B.A. in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins University. He currently sits on the Board of Violence Prevention Network USA, an organization that helps people at risk of radicalization.

Moon studied orchestral conducting at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf in Germany. Prior to his conducting studies, he received a B.A. in music composition from Sahmyook University in South Korea. Moon has participated in renowned music festivals such as Accademia Chigiana in Italy and Bartók Festival in Hungary. His mentors include Manfred Honeck, Rüdiger Bohn, Cristian Măcelaru, Peter Eötvös, and Jorma Panula. IG: @doh.moon

Bronwyn Banerdt joined the cello section of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2014.  She made her solo debut with Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2002 and has since appeared in concert throughout the United States, Europe, Russia and southern Africa. Notable solo appearances include performances with the Houston Symphony, Albany Symphony and the world premiere of Poem for Cello & Orchestra by Michael Kamen. At age 15, Banerdt was personally invited by the world-renowned composer John Rutter to perform the solo from his “Requiem” in Carnegie Hall. Banerdt was awarded Grand Prize at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Bronislaw Kaper Awards, and she has also captured top prizes at the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition and Kingsville Music Competition.  

Equally passionate about chamber music and orchestral performance, Bronwyn Banerdt has co-founded two uniquely focused chamber music ensembles with other members of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The Clarion Quartet specializes in “Entartete Musik”—music written by oppressed composers—and seeks to bring light to artists whose legacies would be silenced. The Pittsburgh Cello Quartet offers an eclectic mix from classical to pop and rock in unique arrangements for four cellos. Banerdt has collaborated with renowned artists such as Kim Kashkashian and Mitsuko Uchida, and members of the Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Borodin and Orion string quartets. She has performed at numerous chamber music festivals including Marlboro Music and Music from Angel Fire. Before joining the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Banerdt was a member of the prize-winning Trio Terzetto and performed as a substitute with many of the great orchestras of the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Banerdt serves as artist lecturer in chamber music at Carnegie Mellon University.   

A native of Los Angeles, Bronwyn Banerdt earned her bachelor’s degree at age 19 from the USC Thornton School of Music, where she studied with Ronald Leonard. She subsequently studied at The Curtis Institute of Music with David Soyer and received her master’s degree from The Juilliard School with Richard Aaron.  

Bronwyn Banerdt plays a Montagnana model cello made by Mario Miralles in 1998.  

Katy Williams has performed the Fiddlesticks Family Concerts for the past 10 years and has loved every minute of it!  The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) has become a second home and she will sing the praises of all the musicians, Maestros and staff forever. Other wonderful organizations that she sings with are  Pittsburgh Opera, Civic Light Opera, Quantum Theater, the Mendelssohn Choir, Pittsburgh Opera Theater, Pittsburgh Concert Chorale and River City Brass Band. She has also had the frequent pleasure of singing with Maestro Larry Loh’s Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and in Syracuse, NY with Symphoria! Also, she has sung with Maestro Lucas Richman’s Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, TN and with Bangor Symphony Orchestra, ME.

Katy was a featured soloist for the PSO Holiday Pops concert series, singing the Marvin Hamlisch original song “Take Me to Christmas Past.” She made her Pittsburgh Symphony debut in September 2005 with Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Nights Dream and has been a frequent guest artist ever since. She was the boy soprano voice in Howard Shore’s Heinz Hall performance of The Lord of the Rings. She has also performed with the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, and has sung the National Anthem in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium.

She has sung under the baton of Manfred Honeck, Sir Andrew Davis, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Rafael Frubeck de Burgos, Lucas Richman, Marvin Hamlisch, Robert Page, Lawrence Loh, and Daniel Meyer.

Currently, Katy is a chorister in Pittsburgh Opera and is adjunct music staff at Point Park University and Washington and Jefferson College. She is the soprano soloist at Rodef Shalom, Oakland, and the vocal artist-in-residence at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Mt. Lebanon, PA. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Vocal Performance. She lives in Mt. Lebanon with her husband, children and two dogs. She loves music, dogs, baking and a really good mac and cheese!