When William Steinberg took over from 1952-76 he took them on tour to Europe and made many recordings. He was followed by André Previn who helped the orchestra to make a television series "Previn and the Pittsburgh". Lorin Maazel, who came from Pittsburgh, conducted them until 1996, taking them on several international tours. Mariss Jansons followed Maazel from 1997-2004. After he left the orchestra had guest conductors but not a musical director (main conductor) for four years. In 2008 the Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck was made music director. Leonard Slatkin is the main guest conductor.