"Mr. Stern, whose gestures are broad and balletic, made himself indispensable in Telemann's Concerto Polonois and in the F-major Suite from Handel's Water Music. To both, he brought road maps of coloristic, textural and dynamic manipulations that yielded distinctively shaped, tactile readings."
New York Times "The orchestra led by Adam Stern played with admirable strength and incisiveness.” Los Angeles Times “Stern outdid himself in the luxuriant reading he and the Milwaukee Symphony gave of Vaughan Williams' Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus.'” Milkwaukee Sentinel "Stern's obvious partisanship [for Elgar, Britten and Vaughan Williams] came through in last night's concert, which radiated passionate involvement. As a conductor, Stern has his own particular style: no baton, gestures which arise from the wrist as much as from the hand, and clear, direct, energetic instructions to the orchestra." Seattle Times "Stern has an ebullient personality, which is reflected in his podium manner. But, that ebullience does not unduly influence his music making. The long pungent lines of Britten's Serenade were readily sustained, and Vaughan Williams' 'Pastoral' Symphony was filled with handsome sonorities and well-developed phrases." Seattle Post-Intelligencer "The Northwest Chamber Orchestra's best playing of the evening came in the familiar Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings with Stern shaping phrases and bringing out interior voices for a performance of distinction." Seattle Times "Stern drew performances from the orchestra that embody the best approach to Baroque music on today's instruments. Decisive tempos, crisp articulation and agile, accurate playing characterized all the evening's offerings." Seattle Post-Intelligencer "The Seattle Symphony responded to Stern's obvious love for Elgar's big, buoyant Symphony No. 2 with playing of considerable intensity and precision." Seattle Times "The [Seattle Philharmonic's] awareness of everything music can be is due to Stern. For him, music is more than notes on a page." The Gathering Note |
UPCOMING EVENTS April 27, 2025
Venue TBA Sammamish Symphony Orchestra Haydn / Hindemith / Dvořák June 7, 2025 Benaroya Hall Seattle WA Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra Grainger / McLeod / Brahms Sydney Maltese, narrator June 8, 2025 Eastlake Performing Arts Center Sammamish WA Sammamish Symphony Orchestra E. Bernstein / Creston / Copland Caroline Faflak, violin Melissa Underhill, flute July 24, 2025 Marshfield High School Auditorium Coos Bay OR Oregon Coast Music Festival Orchestra "Summer Vacation" Aaron Johnson, clarinet and saxophone October 12, 2025 Federal Way Performing Arts and Events Center Federal Way WA Federal Way Symphony Haydn / Gipps / Mozart Rachel Lee Priday, violin Mara Gearman, viola October 25, 2025 Benaroya Hall Seattle WA Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra Copland / Prastiti / Stern / Shostakovich Matthew Laslo, illusionist January 31, 2026 Benaroya Hall Seattle WA Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra Handel / Demessieux / Gipps Joseph Adam, organ April 11, 2026 Benaroya Hall Seattle WA Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra Suppé / TBA / Debussy Seattle Girls Choir (Sarra S. Doyle, Director) Soloist: WInner of the 2025 Don Bushell Competition (details soon) May 30, 2026 Benaroya Hall Seattle WA Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra Buetti / Mahler / TBA Stacey Mastrian, soprano |