The Dallas Morning News“Everything was shapely and elegantly detailed… this evening moved me, literally, to tears…I was blown away…”
Palm Beach Daily News“Stare showed ultimate precision in his direction, bringing out beautiful timbral colors in the orchestra…Stare has a talent for encouraging subtlety and passion from an orchestra, particularly in the string sections. His direction created some of the biggest flourishes and most beautiful orchestral moments that we have heard this season.”
Opera Wire“Maestro Ward Stare had a good night in the pit…particularly strong at creating a flexible sound world for the singers, always ready to get the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra to its most jubilant…the tempi stretched and swooned with the artists, giving this love affair a sense of freedom…”
The Epoch Times“In his Met debut, conductor Ward Stare made the melodic score as delectable as a Viennese pastry…”
Rochester City Newspaper“Music Director Ward Stare continues to lead the RPO with a steady hand and a nuanced approach…”
“RPO Music Director Ward Stare is an ideal conductor for Bizet’s lyrical, dance-like sensibilities, rousing choruses, and intuition for musical momentum…”
“The RPO’s performance, capably led by Music Director Ward Stare, more than fulfilled the promise of the program…”
“Young and slim, he cut a captivating figure, conducting with infectious enjoyment…”
“…(a) tight, knowing performance, which finely balanced comedy and tragedy…”
South Florida Classical Review“The orchestra conducted by Ward Stare gave a light, warm and technically immaculate performance. Part of the credit for the clarity of the singing goes to Stare and the orchestra for providing firm support to the singers without covering them up.”
Appointed the 12th music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in July 2014, American conductor Ward Stare has been described as “a dynamic music director” by CITY Newspaper and “a rising star in the conducting firmament” by the Chicago Tribune. Stare recently made his critically acclaimed debuts at the Metropolitan and Vancouver Operas conducting Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow.
On the operatic stage, Stare has in recent seasons led productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Porgy and Bess, Die Fledermaus, Hansel und Gretel), Washington National Opera (L’Elisir d’amore), Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Il Tabarro & Pagliacci, Dialogues of the Carmelites), and made his international opera debut at the Norwegian National Opera with Britten’s The Rape of Lucetia.
As guest conductor, Ward Stare has performed with the major orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Pittsburgh, as well as at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago and the New World Symphony in Miami. Internationally, he has guest conducted the Deustches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Sydney Symphony, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, at the DITTO Festival in Seoul, South Korea, and the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy.
With the RPO, Stare has recently recorded Jennifer Higdon’s new harp concerto, conducted world premiere performances of works by celebrated composers Allen Shawn and Elliot Goldenthal, commissioned by the RPO, and collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Inon Barnatan and Isabel Leonard. Stare will also lead a concert production of Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte. Other recent and upcoming highlights include guest conducting engagements with the Sarasota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
Ward Stare began his conducting career at the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow. After one year in LA, Stare was appointed to the newly-created position of Resident Conductor with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (2008-2012) and made his highly successful Carnegie Hall with the orchestra, stepping in on short notice for Music Director David Robertson to lead H.K. Gruber’s Frankenstein! Since 2012, Stare has returned frequently to St. Louis and enjoys an ongoing relationship with the orchestra.
A passionate advocate for education, Stare has been a Distinguished Artist at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University since 2012 and has toured with the MCS ensemble both in the U.S. and abroad. In the fall of 2016, Stare recorded and released the MCS’ first album featuring “Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra” written by R.E.M. bassist and songwriter Mike Mills, and Philip Glass’ Third Symphony, on the Orange Mountain Music label. Rolling Stone magazine praised it as “cinematic but never schmaltzy, rock-inflected but never corny, classical but never stuffy.”
Ward Stare is the recipient of both the Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize (2006) and the Aspen Conducting Prize (2007) at the Aspen Music Festival. He was trained as a trombonist at The Juilliard School in Manhattan. At the age of 18, he was appointed principal trombonist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and has performed as an orchestral musician with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, among others. As a soloist, he has given performances in the U.S. and Europe.
APRIL 2018