Manfred Honeck is an Austrian conductor, the son of Otto and Frieda Honeck, from a family of nine children. One of his brothers is the Vienna Philharmonic leader Rainer Honeck. As a youth, Honeck studied violin. He attended the Academy of Music in Vienna, and later played the viola. He was later a musician in the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. His early work as a conductor included a period as assistant to Claudio Abbado with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. From 1991 to 1996, Honeck conducted regularly at the Zurich Opera House. From 1997 to 1998, he was Music Director of the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo. He also held a regular position from 1996 to 1999 with the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig. In 1998, he was named the Principal Guest Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic. From 2000 to 2006, Honeck was Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, where his work included conducting the 2006 premiere of Sven-David Sandstr�m's Ordet ? en passion. Honeck became Generalmusikdirektor of the Staatsoper Stuttgart with the 2007?2008 season, with an initial contract for four years. [More at Wikipedia]

September 17th, 1958 in Nenzing (Age 66)