BIOGRAPHY

American conductor Benjamin Manis is quickly making a name for himself on the podiums of America’s major opera houses and concert halls. Always searching for more meaningful musical connections, for Ben, music making is all about relationships – with orchestras and singers, composers of yesterday and today, and audiences. His career has been defined by shaping and deepening those relationships.

The most recent of those affiliations is with San Francisco Opera, where Ben made his debut in 2024 with Carmen, resulting in an immediate re-invitation for Barber of Seville in 2026. Operawire wrote that Ben “led the excellent San Francisco Opera orchestra [with] a confident, unflagging pace, the conductor’s sensitivity to tempo matching the needs of the singers”. While in San Francisco, Ben also led the SF Opera Orchestra and SFO’s Adler Fellows in a concert of arias, in which “Manis provided sympathetic and visibly attentive support to each singer” (SF Chronicle).

In spring of 2025, Ben returns to Utah Opera for Madame Butterfly and his alma mater, Rice University, for John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles. Other important recent debuts include the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Grand Teton Music Festival, where Ben was appointed Resident Conductor by Music Director Donald Runnicles for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. In spring of 2026, Ben will make his debut with the Savannah Philharmonic.

Ben got his start in opera as Resident Conductor of Houston Grand Opera from 2019-2022. After a successful debut with Verdi’s Rigoletto, he subsequently led HGO performances of Carmen, Romeo et Juliette, and The Snowy Day, as well as the world premiere of Marian’s Song. Ben’s work at HGO culminated in his engagement as guest conductor for John Caird’s production of Tosca, about which Houston Press raved:

Maestro Benjamin Manis, a former HGO Resident Conductor, whips up the orchestra into furious climaxes or subtle love coos, always finding the correct balance between lust and love, leaving the artists on stage with just the right amount of breathing room before the next outburst.

After leaving HGO, Ben was appointed Associate Conductor of the Utah Symphony by Music Director Thierry Fischer for the 22/23 season. That season saw him conduct the Symphony in Abravanel Hall, at the Deer Valley Music Festival, and on tour throughout Utah, resulting in a re-invitation to lead a gala concert featuring violinist Itzhak Perlman. Ben has also built a relationship with Utah Opera, making his debut with The Little Prince in 2024, and continuing with Madame Butterfly in spring of 2025.

Ben studied conducting with Larry Rachleff at Rice University and has maintained close ties to Rice. Since 2019 he has led many symphonic performances as well as a double bill of The Rape of Lucretia and Dido and Aeneas. Ben is a four-time winner of the Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award in 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and has assisted conductors such as Gianadrea Noseda, Stéphane Denève, and Leonard Slatkin. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Emily, and dog, Banjo.