Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Manfred Honeck is widely regarded as one of the world's leading conductors, celebrated for his distinctive and revelatory interpretations that have garnered international acclaim. As Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he is now in his 19th season, he continues to shape the orchestra’s artistic identity with a deep sense of purpose and passion. His tenure, recently extended through the 2032–2033 season, has seen the orchestra flourish artistically while strengthening its role as a cultural ambassador for the city of Pittsburgh. Celebrated at home and abroad, the orchestra has appeared at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, as well as at major venues throughout Europe and prestigious festivals such as the BBC Proms, Salzburg Festival, Musikfest Berlin, Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, and Grafenegg Festival.

Manfred Honeck's acclaimed Pittsburgh tenure is reflected in an extensive discography on the Reference Recordings label, featuring works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and others. These recordings have received widespread critical acclaim and multiple GRAMMY® nominations, including a win for "Best Orchestral Performance" in 2018. In August 2025, he and the orchestra released Requiem: Mozart’s Death in Words and Music, an original concept reimagining a funeral mass for Mozart, combining the composer’s Requiem with Gregorian chant, poetry, and other choral works by Mozart. 

Born in Austria, Manfred Honeck completed his musical training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. His years as a violist with the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra have had a lasting influence on his work as a conductor, and his approach to interpretation is rooted in a desire to venture deep beneath the surface of the music. He began his conducting career as an assistant to Claudio Abbado and as director of the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra. Subsequently, he was engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he was awarded the European Conducting Prize in 1993. He has since served as one of three principal conductors of the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, as Music Director of the Norwegian National Opera, Principal Guest Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm. In 2023, he was appointed Honorary Conductor by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, following decades of close collaboration.  

Manfred Honeck also enjoys a distinguished profile as an opera conductor. In his four seasons as General Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, he conducted premieres of operas by Berlioz, Mozart, Poulenc, Strauss, Verdi, and Wagner. He has also appeared as a guest conductor at major institutions such as Semperoper Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin, the Royal Opera of Copenhagen, and the Salzburg Festival. In 2020, Beethoven’s anniversary year, he conducted a new staging of Fidelio (1806 version) at the Theater an der Wien. In autumn 2022, he made his much-acclaimed debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, leading a revival of Mozart’s Idomeneo. Beyond the podium, Manfred Honeck has created a series of symphonic suites, including Janáček’s Jenůfa, Strauss’s Elektra, Dvořák’s Rusalka, as well as Puccini's Turandot, which he regularly performs around the globe. The most recent arrangement, based on Strauss's Arabella, received its premiere with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2025.

As a guest conductor, Manfred Honeck appears regularly with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra London, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In the United States, he has conducted many of the nation’s most distinguished ensembles. He has also been Artistic Director of the International Wolfegg Concerts in Germany for over three decades. 

In summer 2026, he returns to the Salzburg Festival to conduct Ariadne auf Naxos with the Vienna Philharmonic. He will also lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on a European festival tour, with appearances in Salzburg, Lucerne, Amsterdam, Hamburg, and at the opening concert of the season at the Vienna Konzerthaus. In the 2026/27 season, he will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death with special programs and a new commission from Jüri Reinvere, to be presented worldwide.

Manfred Honeck holds honorary doctorates from several universities in the United States and has been awarded the honorary title of Professor by the Austrian Federal President. In 2018, the jury of the International Classical Music Awards declared him "Artist of the Year." In 2026, he received the Julio Kilenyi Medal from the American Bruckner Society, an honor bestowed on distinguished interpreters of Bruckner.

Acclaimed internationally as one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation, Charles Castronovo has sung at most of the world’s leading opera houses, including the Royal Opera House – Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Berlin State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, San Francisco Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera. In the 2017/18 season, Castronovo will return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for his debut as Don José in Carmen, which he will subsequently perform at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse. He will also sing Alfredo in La Traviata at the Paris Opera and Bavarian State Opera, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at the Metropolitan Opera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Rodolfo in La Boheme with the Singapore Symphony.

Castronovo’s engagements for the 2016/17 season included the title role in Faust at the Zürich Opera House, Alfredo at the Vienna State Opera, the title role in La Damnation de Faust at the Berlin State Opera, Rodolfo at the Hungarian State Opera, Lensky in Eugene Onegin at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and a variety of roles at the Bavarian State Opera, including Alfredo, Edgardo, and the title role in Roberto Devereux. In the 2015/16 season, Castronovo sang Alfredo with the Canadian Opera Company, Edgardo and Alfredo at the Royal Opera House, Faust in Mefistofele at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and a gala concert at the Théaâtre des Champs-Élysées. He began the 2014/15 season with his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona as Alfredo, later making his debut at the Salzburg Easter Festival as the title role in La Damnation de Faust under Sir Simon Rattle, a role he also sang with the Berlin Philharmonic. Castronovo then starred as Ruggero in the Deutsche Oper Berlin’s new production of La Rondine, performed in Roméo et Juliette at the Teatro Real in Madrid, sang the title role in Faust at the Teatro Regio di Torino, and made his debut in the role of Lensky in Eugene Onegin at the Vienna State Opera. He also appeared at the Bavarian State Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and sang concert performances of Charles Gounod’s opera Cinq Mars in Vienna and Versailles, marking the work’s first performance in well over a hundred years.

Castronovo began the 2013/14 season at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, where he sang his first performances of Des Grieux in Manon opposite Natalie Dessay. He then returned to the Vienna State Opera as Nemorino and to the Bavarian State Opera as Alfredo. Castronovo sang Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e Montecchi at the Paris Opera, the title role in a new production of Faust at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and Rodolfo at the Royal Opera House. He also sang his first performances of Verdi’s Requiem at the Semperoper Dresden under Christian Thielemann and made his debut at the Verbier Festival in July of 2014 in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, a work he also sang in the fall in Valencia.

In the 2012/13 season, Castronovo returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, a role he also sang in Baden-Baden. He then made his debut in Amsterdam in a concert performance of Les Pecheurs de Perles at the Concertgebeouw, after which he sang Alfredo at the Berlin State Opera and returned to the Paris Opera as Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress. Castronovo sang Gennaro in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at the Bavarian State Opera and Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels. He also performed at the Royal Opera House in two productions during the season; in April he sang Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and in June he gave his first performances as Ruggero in La Rondine opposite Angela Gheorghiu. At the start of the 2011/12 season, Castronovo made his long awaited debut at the Chicago Lyric Opera as Tamino. Other highlights from the season included Alfredo in Vienna, Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Ferrando at the Royal Opera House, Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the San Diego Opera, and Mario Ruoppolo in Il Postino at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago – a role Castronovo also performed at the work’s world premiere in Los Angeles, opposite Plácido Domingo.

Born in New York and raised in California, Charles Castronovo began his career as a resident at the Los Angeles Opera. He was then invited to join the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, and in the autumn of 1999 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Beppe in the opening night performance of Pagliacci. In the first years of his career, Castronovo built his repertoire with such debuts as Tamino in Die Zauberfloete and Fenton in Falstaff in Pittsburgh, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Ernesto in Don Pasquale in Boston, and Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte in Portland, where he also sang his first performances of Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore. He debuted as Alfredo in La Traviata with the Minnesota Opera, as Belmonte in Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail with the Colorado Opera, and as Elvino in La Sonnambula with the Michigan Opera Theater. Castronovo made his European stage debut at the 2000 Savonlinna Festival in Don Giovanni. He subsequently debuted in Germany at the Berlin State Opera in the same work under Daniel Barenboim, in France as Fenton at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, and in Great Britain at the London Proms of 2002 in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole. In the 2003/04 season, he made his debuts at the San Francisco Opera, Paris Opera and Vienna State Opera as Tamino, and in September of 2004 he debuted at the Royal Opera House as Ferrando. This was followed by his Italian stage debut as Alfredo at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. Other significant debuts included Alfredo at the Hamburg State Opera and the Megaron in Athens, Fenton at the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, and Ferrando at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. He also made his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Belmonte in Entfuerung.

Castronovo has participated in many revivals of more rarely performed works. He starred as Mylio in the revival of Lalo’s Le roi d’Ys in Toulouse, opened the 2010/11 season at the Paris Opera as Vincent in Mireille and debuted at the Festival de Montpellier in July of 2012 in Massenet’s Therese. He also recorded Mercadante’s Virginia for Opera Rara and sang Rossini’s Ermione in Santa Fe. A frequent soloist on the concert stage, Castronovo has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic and has sang concerts in China, Japan, Russia, Sweden and Denmark.

Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni has established himself as one of the most charismatic and versatile singers performing today. Since his debut at age 26 with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, led by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Pisaroni has continued to bring his compelling artistry to the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls, and festivals.

In his 2018/19 season, Luca Pisaroni returns to the Teatro Real in Madrid to sing Méphistophélès in a new production of Gounod’s Faust by La Fura dels Baus, followed by his role debut as the Four Villains in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus. He later makes his house debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Mustafà in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri. Additionally, during the season, Mr. Pisaroni returns to The Metropolitan Opera stage for his highly anticipated debut in the title role of Mozart’s Don Giovanni conducted by Cornelius Meister. Following this engagement, he will sing Leporello at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Don Giovanni and will then travel to the Houston Grand Opera for the world premiere of Tarik O’Regan’s The Phoenix, to create the role of the young Lorenzo da Ponte. Pisaroni will tour with the ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro in a concert version of Händel’s Agrippina where he will debut the role of Claudio, and makes his return to the Staatsoper Berlin as Golaud in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. He ends his operatic season at the Royal Opera House in his role debut as Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen.

Pisaroni’s 2018/19 international concert appearances include Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Requiem at the Brucknerhaus; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Schönberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw at the Laeiszhalle; Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at the Royal Festival Hall and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Gewandhaus and at the Konzerthaus Dortmund with Andris Nelsons. Mr. Pisaroni presents a series of recitals with pianist Malcolm Martineau at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and at the Pierre Boulez Saal. He will also perform several concerts of “No Tenors Allowed” with baritone Thomas Hampson in Boston, Toronto, and Santa Fe.

In the 2017/18 season, Luca Pisaroni made multiple role debuts beginning at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro as Mahomet II in Le Siège de Corinthe, at the Opéra National de Paris in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande as Golaud, followed by Mustafà in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri at the Wiener Staatsoper, along with performances as Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Leporello in Don Giovanni. He returned to The Met in his signature role of Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, and he sang Méphistophélès in Gounod’s Faust in Moscow. Mr. Pisaroni ended his season with his debut as the malevolent Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Teatro alla Scala.

Highlights from his 2017/18 international concert appearances include Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at the Konzerthaus Wien and with the Luxembourg Philharmonie; Beethoven’s C Major Mass with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Mariss Jansons, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the LSO and Michael Tilson-Thomas, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Daniele Gatti and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Luca Pisaroni’s diverse operatic repertoire includes portrayals of Méphistophélès in Gounod’s Faust at Houston Grand Opera; Enrico VIII in Anna Bolena at Opernhaus Zürich; Conte Rodolfo in Bellini’s La Sonnambula at Wiener Staatsoper; Giorgio in I Puritani and Caliban in The Enchanted Island at the Met; Le nozze di Figaro at Opéra National de Paris, San Francisco Opera, and the Bayerische Staatsoper; Leporello in Don Giovanni at Teatro alla Scala, The Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, and at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at Glyndebourne and the Salzburg Festival; Conte Dorval in Martin y Soler’s Il Burbero di Buon Cuore at Teatro Real; Maometto in Rossini’s Maometto II at the Canadian Opera Company; and Tiridate in Radamisto at Santa Fe Opera. He sang Argante in Rinaldo at Lyric Opera of Chicago; the title role in Cavalli’s Ercole Amante with De Nederlandse Opera and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas for the Wiener Festwochen.

In concert, Pisaroni has performed Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with Michael Tilson-Thomas, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Jeffrey Tate; Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten at the Musikverein Wien, under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt; Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Franz Welser-Möst; Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Sir Simon Rattle and the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Schumann’s Faustszenen with Daniel Harding and the Berlin Philharmonic. He has also been a featured soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Jaap van Zweden; Mozart’s Requiem with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem under the baton of Edo de Waart; Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Gewandhausorchester under Herbert Blomstedt; Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, led by Pablo Heras-Casado; Hasse’s I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore and Cherubini’s Missa Solemnis under Riccardo Muti; Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with Daniel Harding; and Testi’s Sacrae Symphoniae with the Orchestre National de Radio France.

In addition to his extensive opera and concert appearances, Pisaroni has presented critically lauded recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Teatro de la Zarzuela, the Concertgebouw, Edinburgh Festival, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Vancouver Recital Society, and the Dortmund Konzerthaus, among other prominent international venues.

Mr. Pisaroni has recorded for all major labels, and his discography includes Don Giovanni and Rinaldo from the Glyndebourne Festival; Le nozze di Figaro with the Opéra National de Paris; Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro from the Salzburg Festival; and a recording of Don Giovanni with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additional releases include Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, and most recently, the title role in Le nozze di Figaro with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Luca Pisaroni lives in Vienna with his wife, Catherine. Their golden retriever Lenny 2.0 and miniature dachshund Tristan are the singer’s constant traveling companions.

A rich, radiant voice, expansive range and dynamic stage presence are the hallmarks of Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught. With a wide repertoire that includes Bellini, Dvorak, Gounod, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Strauss and Verdi, as well as contemporary composers, she enjoys an ever-growing international career on the opera, orchestra and recital stages. In recent seasons Ms. Erraught has sung world premieres, made numerous role debuts, and appeared in recitals and concerts throughout the United States, Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Following a fall 2018 that included singing the role of Angelina in La Cenerentola in an eight-city tour of the United Kingdom with Welsh National Opera; Despina in Cosi fan tutte and Hansel in Hansel und Gretel with Bayerische Staatsoper; recital debuts with the Oxford Lieder Festival and the Sir Arthur Bliss International Song Series at Cambridge University in the UK and Ireland’s Drogheda Classical Music Series, Ms. Erraught can be heard in performances in Germany, France, the United States and Ireland this winter/spring 2019. Performance highlights include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Staatsoper Berlin and the Deutsche Oper am Rein’s AIDS Gala 2019 in Germany; debuts with Orchestre National de Lyon and the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Savannah Philharmonic (closing their tenth anniversary season), and a return to Ireland’s National Concert Hall International Concert Series.

Upcoming announced 2019-20 engagements include a debut with the UK’s Holkham Hall Chamber Music Concert Series; returns to Austria’s Schubertiade Schwarzenberg in summer 2019, to Wigmore Hall in December 2019 in recital and to the Metropolitan Opera in the title role in Rossini's La Cenerentola in spring 2020. In February 2020 Ms. Erraught performs on the closing concert of The Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg's Mozart Week 2020.

Recent season highlights include company debuts with Gran Teatre del Liceu (Stéphano, Romeo et Juliette); The Metropolitan Opera (Nichlausse/The Muse, Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffman and Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel); Irish National Opera's first season (Susanna, The Marriage of Figaro); Staatsoper Berlin (Rosina, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia); Bayerische Staatsoper (Zweiter Knappe, Parsifal; reprise of Angelina, La Cenerentola; Carlotta, Die Schwiegsame Frau); Ireland’s Opera Theater Company (Dona Elvira in the world premiere of Roddy Doyle’s new translation of Mozart’s Don Giovanni) and Wide Open Opera (Rosina in a new production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia); recital debuts at Schubertiade, Schwarzenberg, Welsh National Opera’s International Concert Series, Vocal Arts DC and South Carolina’s Peace Center and a return to the Vancouver Recital Society; the Salzburg Festival (Siebel, new production of Gounod's Faust with the Vienna Philharmonic), as well as her role debut as Annius in Deutsche Gramophone’s live recording of two concert performances of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito with Joyce DiDonato as Sexto and Rolando Villazon as Tito under Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Baden Baden. Additional opera company credits include the Hamburg Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Washington National Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Miss Erraught has made 41 role debuts with the Bayerische Staatsoper alone.

Recital and orchestral performances include, in North America: New York’s Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Celebrity Series of Boston, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Terrace Theater, Vocal Arts DC, Kansas City’s Harriman-Jewell Series, Ann Arbor’s University Musical Society, and Vancouver Recital Society. International appearances include Austria’s Schubertiade, Schwarzenberg; the United Kingdom’s Wigmore Hall, the BBC Proms, and Welsh National Opera’s International Concert Series; France’s Le Grand Foyer Series, Opera de Lille; Japan’s Tokyo Opera Nomori; Ireland’s National Concert Hall, Music for Galway, Drogheda International Classic Music Series, and solo opera gala concerts with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra; and Munich’s Nymphenburg Sommer and Bayerische Festspiele.

Tara Erraught can be heard on Deutsche Gramophone’s 2018 Grammy-nominated live concert recording of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito in Baden Baden in the role of Annius, and in Glyndebourne’s 2010 recording of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel in the role of the Sandman. She can be seen on DVD in the title role of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier on the Opus Arte label. 

A resident principal soloist with the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich from 2010 - 2018, amongst her awards are a prestigious Promeritis scientiae et litterarum (2013) from the Bavarian government in recognition for outstanding contribution to the arts, a 2010 Dublin’s National Concert Hall's Rising Star Award, and a 2007 Dermott Troy Award for the Best Irish Singer. A native of Dundalk, Ireland, Tara Erraught is a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, where she studied, and continues to study, with the acclaimed Royal Opera soprano Veronica Dunne.

Baritone Alexander Birch Elliott continues to garner praise for his “heated intensity and beguiling timbre of mahogany.” (New York Times) Alexander’s 2018-19 season features his debut with the Metropolitan Opera singing the role of Zurga in Penny Woolcock’s production of Les Pêcheurs de Perles, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume. Additional performances in the season include his debut with Virginia Opera as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, as well as returns to Opera Omaha for his role debut as Silvio in Pagliacci and Portland Opera as Hannah Before in Laura Kaminsky’s As One. He returns to the Indianapolis Symphony in June for performances of Bruckner’s Te Deum.

Alexander made two significant festival debuts in the summer of 2018, both in celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s centennial. He appeared with the Ravinia Festival in June under the baton of Marin Alsop as a Street Singer in Bernstein’s Mass, followed by performances of Maximilian, the Sea Captain, and the Grand Inquisitor in Candide at the Tanglewood Festival. Recent operatic appearances include as Sonora in La fanciulla del West in his debut with New York City Opera; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Santa Barbara; Anthony in Sweeney Todd and the title role of Eugene Onegin with Portland Opera; and as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte with Opera Omaha. A proponent of contemporary works, he appeared as John Brooke in Little Women with Madison Opera and Annapolis Opera; Edward Kynaston in Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players with the Florida State Opera; and in the role of Doug Hansen in Joby Talbot's Everest at The Dallas Opera.

On the concert stage Alexander has appeared with The Knights for Master Peter's Puppet Show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Marcello in La boheme and Escamillo in Carmen with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; Marcello with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with the Orlando Philharmonic; Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; and in a concert of operatic and holiday duets with acclaimed soprano Leona Mitchell under the auspices of the Tulsa Opera.

As a young artist with Portland Opera he performed the roles of Belcore in L'elisir d'amore, Le Dancaïre in Carmen, Frank in Die Fledermaus, and Sam in Pirates of Penzance. Other young artist performances include Il barbiere di Siviglia as Figaro and Rorem’s Our Town as Frank at Central City Opera, as well as the Captain in Eugene Onegin and Périchaud in La Rondine at Des Moines Metro Opera. In the 2013-14 season Alexander made his principal artist debut as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Tulsa Opera, having previously sung the roles of the Corporal in La Fille du Régiment and the Postman in Loesser’s Most Happy Fella as a 2012-13 studio artist.

Alexander is a graduate of the prestigious Merola program at the San Francisco Opera, and is the recipient of the 2013 John Moriarty Award for his outstanding contribution to Central City Opera. Alexander attended Florida State University where he studied with David Okerlund.

Audiences and critics alike have praised The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh’s programming, saying, “EXCEPTIONAL and MEMORABLE… I’m still talking about it,” “One of the finest music events I have ever attended,” and “the Mendelssohn never ceases to amaze me… This city should be proud of its choir” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). 

Critically acclaimed as one of the finest choruses in the country, MCP is the “voice of the greater Pittsburgh region” — whether premiering a choral work composed by Stewart Copeland of The Police at a rock venue, or performing Mozart with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Unlike other professional arts organizations, MCP is proudly comprised of mostly amateur singers with professional-caliber talent, whose day jobs vary from postal clerk to physician to casino card dealer. MCP singers give generously of their talent, passion, and commitment to share the magic of live music with the widest possible audience, within Heinz Hall and throughout the community. 

For more than a century, MCP has proudly partnered with the PSO as its “chorus of choice,” bringing the joys of symphonic choral music to tens of thousands of people each year. MCP has performed under the batons of world-renowned conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Tilson Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, André Previn, Sir Neville Marriner, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Helmuth Rilling, Ingo Metzmacher, Richard Hickox, Zdenek Mácal, and Manfred Honeck.

MCP embraces its long legacy of performances, recordings, and commissions that reimagine choral music for today’s audiences and bring bold, unique programming to the Pittsburgh region, such as the recent world premieres of Satan’s Fall by the Police’s Stewart Copeland and The Times They Are A-Changin’ by composer and conductor Steve Hackman. Under the leadership of its new Robert Page Music Director Daniel Singer, MCP looks forward to continuing its tradition of excellence while seeking innovative ways to encourage broader community participation in MCP as singers and as members of the audience. 

MCP fosters the next generation of choral singers and audience members through its educational program, the Junior Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh (JMCP). Founded in 1986, JMCP is the region’s premier high school choral training and performance program. Annually, JMCP attracts singers from more than a dozen school districts, providing youth with a challenging musical environment in which to develop their skills and encouraging them to be lifelong participants in the arts.

Pittsburgh Youth Chorus is a collective of young people who have been empowered and inspired by the joy of singing. Led by a dedicated staff of choral professionals who specialize in the young voice, Pittsburgh Youth Chorus (PYC) serves the region through exceptional choral music education and artistry. With opportunities for singers ages 6-18 – and with a focus on personal development, community engagement, travel, and cultural exchange – PYC’s multi-faceted programing is celebrated for its ability to nurture the potential of its participants while fostering confidence, dedication, and a sense of belonging.

Through professional-level choral education and performance, Pittsburgh Youth Chorus strives to provide opportunities for a diverse group of children to realize their innate artistic potential and share experiences that enrich their lives while benefiting their families and communities.

PYC made its debut in 1983, joining the forces of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for a performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony. As the fledgling chorus grew, as did its list of collaborators – Pittsburgh Opera, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh Public Theater have all shared the stage with the group’s young musicians. PYC has also hosted artists of international acclaim, such as Kim Nazarian of New York Voices, Joe Negri (best known for his work on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood), the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble, and Elisabeth von Trapp. Beyond its home in western PA, Pittsburgh Youth Chorus has taken young singers to Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Oregon, and the United Kingdom. Upcoming highlights include a trip to Denver, CO in June 2020 and the opportunity to host Dr. Raymond Wise, gospel music specialist from Indiana University Bloomington, in October 2020.

The magic of PYC is in the relationships – bonds between the young singers that rise from making music together, and then transforms the music-making into a powerful and meaningful experience. Countless families have attested to how their lives have been touched as a result of being a part of the PYC family. Pittsburgh Youth Chorus is proud of its singers – past and present – and eager to continue serving our communities with programs that invest in the region’s cultural landscape and future leaders.