Anne Manson (born 1961, Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an American conductor.
Manson studied viola and piano in her youth. She attended Harvard University from 1979 to 1983,[1] with an initial intention to focus on a pre-medical curriculum.[1] [2] She graduated from Harvard and Radcliffe College with a focus on music.[3] She subsequently won a Marshall Scholarship, which she used for music studies at the Royal College of Music (RCM).[4] At the RCM, she studied conducting with Norman Del Mar.
In the UK, Manson founded and served as director of Mecklenburgh Opera from 1988 to 1996.[4] In Europe, Manson became an assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado at the Vienna State Opera. In 1994, Manson conducted the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival in a performance of Boris Godunov, the first female conductor to conduct at the Salzburg Festival.[2]
In North America, Manson was music director of the Kansas City Symphony from 1999 to 2003,[3] the first female music director of the Kansas City Symphony. In 2008, Manson became music director of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra,[5] the first female music director in the orchestra's history. Manson has conducted several commercial recordings, including works of Philip Glass.[6]
Manson and her husband have two sons.[4]