Artists’ Profiles

Benjamin Manis

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Conductor

American conductor, Benjamin Manis, joined the Utah Symphony as Associate Conductor in September 2022, leading the orchestra at Abravanel Hall, at the Deer Valley® Music Festival, and on its upcoming statewide tour. Before moving to Salt Lake City, Manis spent three seasons as Resident Conductor of the Houston Grand Opera, making his debut with Verdi’s Rigoletto. Other highlights of his time in Houston include performances of Carmen, Roméo et Juliette and The Snowy Day. He led four world premieres, among them the 2020 world premiere of Marian’s Song with the subsequent HGO Digital filmed version and Miller Outdoor Theatre performances of the same work. Manis returned to HGO in the 2022–23 season to lead productions of Tosca and El Milagro del Recuerdo.

Winner of the 2023, 2022, and 2019 Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Awards, Manis has served as cover conductor for the St. Louis, Dallas, and National Symphonies, working with conductors Gianandrea Noseda, David Robertson, and Stéphane Denève.

Jeffrey Biegel

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Piano

The life and legacy of Jeffrey Biegel reflects an unprecedented journey as a pianist having created the most diverse commissioning projects, premieres, and recordings of his generation, building bridges to break divides through music. His life takes its roots from age three, barely able to hear nor speak, until corrected by surgery. The “reverse Beethoven” phenomenon explains his lifelong commitment to music, having heard only vibrations in his formative years.

The pandemic year of 2020 focused on composing Waltzes of Hope, Sonatina, and Three Reflections: JFK, RBG, and MLK for solo piano, and for piano and orchestra, with orchestrations by Harrison Sheckler. The year 2021 saw the world premieres of his Reflection of Justice: An Ode to Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. For 2023, world premieres of Peter Boyer’s Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue and Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Manchester’s AWAKE for piano and orchestra will take the stages across America. The 2024–25 season foresees a new work for piano and orchestra by Adolphus Hailstork with the Pacific Symphony, Carl St. Clair conducting.