Michael Stern (born 17 December 1959) is an American conductor. He is currently music director of the

National Repertory Orchestra The National Repertory Orchestra (NRO) is an American summer symphony orchestra that offers full fellowships to train young professional musicians for careers in music through performances, masterclasses and workshops. Based in Breckenridge, Col ...

(

Breckenridge, Colorado Breckenridge is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule town that is the county seat and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Summit County, Colorado, Summit County, Colorado, United ...

) and of Orchestra Lumos. He is artistic advisor to the

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...

and the Iris Collective. He is music director laureate of the

Kansas City Symphony The Kansas City Symphony (KCS) is an American symphony orchestra based in Kansas City, Missouri. The orchestra is resident at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The orchestra performs a 42-week season, and is also the accompanying o ...

Biography

Stern is the son of Vera Stern and the violinist

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

. He obtained his undergraduate degree in

American history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1981. Subsequently, he studied under conductor Max Rudolf at the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, graduating in 1986. Stern also studied for one summer at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute and for two summers at the

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1 ...

Memorial School in

Hancock, Maine Hancock is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,466 at the 2020 census. Located on the mainland at the head of Frenchman Bay, Hancock has commanding views of Mount Desert Island. History It was first settled ...

. Stern was an assistant conductor with The

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

from 1986 to 1991. In September 1986, he debuted at the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

as one of three young conductors in a conducting workshop with

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

. Stern has served as principal guest conductor of the

Orchestre National de Lyon The Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) is a French orchestra based in Lyon. Its primary concert venue is the Maurice Ravel Auditorium. The orchestra operates with the help of a subsidy from the Ministry of Culture (France), French Ministry of Cult ...

. From 1996 to 2000, Stern was chief conductor of the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, the first American chief conductor in the orchestra's history. His work there is also notable for the orchestra's many recordings of American classical music during his tenure, including discs of works by

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher, teacher Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 2022.C ...

and

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...

. In 2000, Stern founded the IRIS Orchestra in

Germantown, Tennessee Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,333 at the 2020 census. It was given a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence in 2019. Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, border ...

, an ensemble specialist in American contemporary music. He served as its music director until 2022, and is now advisor to the renamed ensemble, the IRIS Collective. In 2005, Stern became music director of the

. During Stern's tenure in Kansas City, the orchestra moved to the

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is in Downtown Kansas City, downtown Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, at 16th and Broadway, near the city's Power & Light District, the T-Mobile Center and the Crossroads, Kansas Cit ...

in 2011. In March 2014, Stern, the orchestra, and Engage Mobile Solutions used four pairs of

Google Glass Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a discontinued brand of smart glasses developed by Google's X Development (formerly Google X), with a mission of producing a ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using a head-u ...

to record a performance of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. He served in the post through the 2023-2024 season, and is now music director laureate of the Kansas City Symphony. In 2019, the Stamford Symphony (renamed Orchestra Lumos in June 2022) appointed Stern as its next music director, effective with the 2020-2021 season, with an initial contract of five seasons. In January 2021, the

(NRO) in

announced the appointment of Stern as its next music director. Stern has been married twice. His first marriage was to the oboist Jeannette Bittar. The marriage ended in divorce. Stern's second marriage is to Shelly Cryer. The couple have two daughters and resides in Connecticut.

References

External links

Colbert Artists Management agency page on Michael Stern

National Repertoire Orchestra page on Michael Stern

Orchestra Lumos page on Michael Stern

Curtis Institute of Music page on Michael Stern

K. Smith, 'Meet Shelly Cryer – American Conductor Michael Stern’s Wife Since 2006, 5 Facts'. ECelebrity Mirror, 14 September 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Michael 1959 births American male conductors (music) Living people Harvard College alumni People from the Kansas City metropolitan area Curtis Institute of Music alumni People from Germantown, Tennessee Classical musicians from Missouri 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians