An instant connection
AFTER BIG SUCCESSES IN KANSAS CITY, MICHAEL STERN TAKES TO THE STAMFORD SYMPHONY PODIUM
When conductors first practice with a new ensemble, they might sense a connection with the musicians in a matter of minutes or hours. At times, that connection is simply nonexistent.
For the Stamford Symphony’s incoming music director designate, it was instantaneous.
“Those first 10 minutes of shorthand were easy and it only got better from there — there is a familiarity and camaraderie among them,” says Michael Stern, 59, adding that there is a great potential in the ensemble.
A lifelong musician and resident of Old Greenwich, Stern’s foray into the world of notes and scales was almost predetermined.
The son of worldrenowned musician Isaac Stern, one of the most prominent violinists of the 20th century, the future Harvard graduate was surrounded by music in its many forms from an early age. Stern admitts, with a slight smile, that though he said he wanted to play the violin at the age of 3, he wasn’t completely sure how much of that decision was of his own volition.
What Stern is confident about, however, is what he wants to do at the helm of the podium: engage with the community.
“I think there is a tendency among some to categorize (classical music) as overly rarefied or elitist or exclusionary. It’s none of those things. The only thing that people should not bother with is bad music,” Stern says.
For Stern, who will be the Stamford Symphony’s fourth music director, it’s almost a duty and responsibility that music ought to be shared, spread and advocated for — anything less is not enough.
Stern knows what it’s like to direct in troubled waters. Also music director of the Kansas City Symphony since 2005, a contract that was recently extended to 2023, Stern arrived at a time when that organization was running deficits and suffering from a lack of subscribers.
“We had to work very hard. There was a sort of dismissiveness among a lot of people that the symphony just wasn’t very central,” says Stern, who is also the founding artistic director and principal conductor of IRIS Orchestra in Germantown, Tenn.
In Missouri, Stern and the orchestra’s board of directors undertook a massive plan to breathe new life into the group. Now, the
“I THINK THERE IS A TENDENCY AMONG SOME TO CATEGORIZE (CLASSICAL MUSIC) AS OVERLY RAREFIED OR ELITIST OR EXCLUSIONARY. IT’S NONE OF THOSE THINGS.”
orchestra boasts a new home, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, subscriptions have gone up substantially and the symphony has enjoyed a budget surplus for the past eight years.
To accomplish such feats, Stern said, you need a visionary executive director and active board members who will devote themselves fully to the challenge, something he believes Stamford has the potential to do.
Spreading the passion and love for music can be done just about anywhere, according to Russell Jones, the president and CEO of the Stamford Symphony. It’s about getting that toe in the water and getting a taste for the symphony, he says.
“We want to tell other audiences that we are out there,” Jones says. “Whether it’s a string quartet at the museum or a nature center, or two flutes at the Half Full Brewery or the 65 musicians at the Palace — these are all equally valid performances and opportunities for the orchestra to engage with the community.”
Naturally, Jones doesn’t expect someone to go from a movieinthepark event to three hours of Wagner but, he emphasizes, it boils down to incorporating and inviting the community to the company’s hall.
“If you give and awaken young people to understand that power of music, you can never take that away from them,” Stern emphasizes.
Though Stern joins the Stamford Symphony this fall, the program for this upcoming season still involves other guest musical conductors. It won’t be until next July that he will officially assume the reins and the baton for himself for a fiveyear tenure.
The music director already has some ideas for that season — but he’s not saying much until then. He’ll let the instruments speak for themselves when the time comes.
“In the heart of every musician, first and foremost, you want to make good music, express yourself and make the music land. Music is communication and you want to make it land — I felt that here,” he says.