The Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, the oldest community orchestra-established in 1944-is presenting Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, "The Eroica," for one performance only, Sunday, April 1, at 3 p.m. It will take place at Meany Hall at University of Washington.
Balancing out the concert is the adventurous "Concerto for 23 Winds," an ensemble by Walter Hartley, and "The Story of Babar, The Little Elephant" by Francis Poulenc, narrated by Miss Marta, host of Classic Kid FM on KING-FM Radio.
I talked recently with Adam Stern, music director and conductor of Seattle Philharmonic and, as it happens, a close neighbor on the top of Queen Anne Hill. He is very much an anglophile with shared interest in the music of Vaughan Williams and the works of Shakespeare.
Stern began his musical studies at the age of 5 as a piano student. Two years later he added flute lessons to his program. At age 15 he was accepted into California Institute of Arts, where he initially majored in flute performance.
In his second year he changed his major to conducting-this at the urging of his teacher, the noted conductor and educator Gerhard Samuel. Stern graduated in 1977 with a masters of fine arts in conducting at age 21, the youngest student in CalArts' to do so.
He has since been mostly active as a conductor, as well as a composer and pianist. He was the associate conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 1996 to 2001, after having served as assistant conductor from 1992 to 1996. He conducted concerts in all of the orchestra's major series.
Highlights of his programming include the Seattle Symphony premières of Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 3 ("Pastoral") and Elgar's Symphony No. 2. In addition to conducting many classical concerts, Stern also made several ventures into the pops field, working with such artists as James Taylor, Judy Collins, Art Garfunkel, Doc Severinsen and Frank Sinatra Jr.
Stern was also the music director of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra from 1994 to 2000 and is credited with greatly expanding the orchestra's repertoire, increasing audience support and generally improving the orchestra's sound and flexibility.
As a great believer of music education, Stern produced and conducted many children's and outreach concerts with both orchestras. His love of educating currently has two joyous outlets: he is music director of the Bellevue Youth Symphony and director of instrumental music at the Lakeside Upper School in north Seattle.
His great interest in Shakespeare has found very successful expression in composing for the stage. He has composed incidental music for productions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "King Lear" and "The Winter's Tale." His score for "Richard III" earned him a Los Angeles Dramalogue Award for best original score.
Locally, Stern has composed two works for A Contemporary Theatre: "The Red and the Black" and "A Christmas Carol," the latter score used every year since its première in 1996. His most recent work for the concert hall is "Partita Concertante," commissioned by the Rainier Chamber Winds, which gave the world première and subsequently recorded it.
Stern has been a guest conductor throughout the United States in major symphony orchestras. He appeared in the Richard Dreyfuss film "The Competition" as sour-faced pianist Mark Landau, and he had a successful "side career" as a producer of classical recordings.
He told me he is most proud of the extensive series of recordings he made with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony. In 1990 Stern won a Grammy Award as "Classical Producer of the Year," primarily due to his work on the Schwarz/Seattle recordings.
A busy pianist, Stern has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician with the Seattle Symphony and the Northwest Chamber Orchestra.
One of his most famous performances was in January 1998, when he filled in on several hours' notice for an indisposed soloist. Stern performed in Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with the Seattle Symphony and guest-conductor Yoel Levi, resulting in standing ovations at both performances.
As I said before, Adam Stern lives atop Queen Anne Hill with his wife Kathleen, a member of the Seattle Symphony violin section. They have two children, Ella and Oscar, who enjoy dad's bedtime stories from the works of Shakespeare. Ella has now become a fan of Henry VIII and his six wives. I am looking forward to sharing some of my recordings with her. I am also looking forward to the upcoming production next Sunday afternoon.
Concert tickets cost $18 for general admission, $10 for students and seniors and $45 for one family (two adults, two children, $5 per additional child). Tickets are available through the SPO InfoLine at 528-6878, Ticketmaster at 628-0888 or at the door. Parking at Meany Hall is free on Sundays in the 15th Avenue N.E. underground garage. More information is available on the SPO Web site at www.seattlephil.com
The next production, May 6, is PDQ Bach. To be held in Town Hall at 3 p.m., the production will include "Schleptet in E Flat major," "Eine Kleine in Nichtmusik," "Royal Firewater Musick," "Cantata, 'Iphigenia in Brooklyn" and "Quodlibet."
To quote the Bard, "If music be the food of love, play on." To quote the Maestro, "Come and join us." TTFN.[[In-content Ad]]
