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”. Ben will return to San Francisco Opera in a future season.

The 26/27 season will mark Ben’s debut with Seattle Opera conducting Salome, as well as the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Safe Haven at Opera Theater of St. Louis. He returns to the Rhode Island Philharmonic and appears at Music Academy of the West, conducting Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree. Other important recent and upcoming debuts include the Sarasota Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, and Grand Teton Music Festival, where Ben was appointed Resident Conductor by Sir Donald Runnicles for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Ben was Resident Conductor of Houston Grand Opera from 2019-2022, making a successful debut with 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 engagements as guest conductor for Tosca and Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men. Houston Press raved about Tosca:

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 built a strong relationship with Utah Opera, where he conducted The Little Prince, Madama Butterfly, and Fidelio.  

Ben studied conducting with Larry Rachleff at Rice University . He has mainted close ties to Rice since 2019, leading several symphonic performances, a double bill of The Rape of Lucretia and Dido and Aeneas, and John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles. 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, son, Avery, and dog, Banjo.