CONDUCTORS

Thanks to all our volunteers who help NRO musicians, staff and patrons feel right at home. NRO Community Link is a rewarding volunteer initiative with a myriad of roles to enhance the Summer Music Festival for musicians, seasonal staff and fellows, and patrons of the National Repertory Orchestra. This incredible team of extraordinary individuals is an essential part of what makes the NRO an experience like no other.

NRO Community Link is an exciting and meaningful way to enrich the Arts scene in Summit County. Volunteers assist in tasks like greeting audiences during rehearsals and helping with ticket scanning and seating at concerts. They also support musicians, staff and fellows by creating and serving home-cooked weekly dinners, preparing off-site housing and acting as host families.

BE PART OF SOMETHING REMARKABLE.

If you share a love of music, helping others or have an interest in the National Repertory Orchestra, join our growing community of passionate supporters!

VOLUNTEER ROLES

Bike Distribution • Concert Ushers • Host Families • Housing Preparation Rehearsal Docents • Weekly Dinners

BENEFITS

Volunteer benefits include appreciation events, concert ticket discounts, and an exclusive festival tee shirt.

Do you have a unique talent or expertise that could be helpful in another area? We want to know!

To get involved, contact Nancy Malone, NRO Community Link Coordinator at volunteer@nromusic.org.

Learn more about volunteering or fill out the quick NRO Community Link Questionnaire in the FREE NRO App or at NROmusic.org.

During Stern’s tenure with the Kansas City Symphony, he and the orchestra have been recognized for their remarkable artistic ascent, original programming, organizational development, stability, and extraordinary audience growth. Under Stern’s leadership, the orchestra explored a wide range of repertoire, including commissioned work, some of which was recorded for the GRAMMY® Award-winning Reference Recordings. The orchestra’s next recording was released in the fall of 2022, featuring three works by Brahms arranged for orchestra by Bright Sheng, Virgil Thomson and Arnold Schoenberg.

Stern co-founded Iris Orchestra in 2000 and was Founding Artistic Director and Principal Conductor until 2021-22, when he had planned to step down from his post. With his departure, staff, community and musicians reinvented the orchestra as the Iris Collective, which will offer a spectrum of events while also prioritizing a variety of community engagement initiatives. The Iris Collective will team up with a number of creative partners, including Stern, who will also continue his involvement as Artistic Advisor.

As part of his ongoing activities to engage and mentor young musicians, he was asked by Yo-Yo Ma to be the Music Director of YMCG, Youth Music Culture Guangdong; he was also invited to the National Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West, and has been a regular guest at the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Stern’s illustrious American conducting engagements have included the Boston, Chicago and Atlanta Symphonies; the New York Philharmonic; and the Minnesota Orchestra. Stern has also served as guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Internationally, he has led major orchestras in London, Stockholm, Paris, Helsinki, Budapest, Israel, Moscow, Taiwan, and Tokyo. As Chief Conductor of Germany’s Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, he was the first American chief conductor in the orchestra’s history; he was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon in France and the Orchestre National de Lille, France.

Stern received his music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where his primary teacher was the noted conductor and scholar Max Rudolf. Michael Stern makes his home in Connecticut, with his two daughters.

CARL TOPILOW, MUSIC DIRECTOR LAUREATE

July 4 & July 8

Through his more than four decades as the NRO’s Music Director and Conductor, Carl Topilow has influenced and nurtured countless young musicians and aspiring conductors. In his role as Music Director Laureate, he remains active with the organization. Carl is looking forward to continuing his work with Music Director Michael Stern and the orchestra, returning once again to the stage of the Riverwalk Center!

Topilow is the founding Conductor of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, and Music Director and Conductor of the Firelands Symphony Orchestra in Sandusky, Ohio. Past positions have included Conductor and Director of the Orchestral Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Principal Pops Conductor with the Toledo Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony and Mansfield Symphony. He has served as Guest Conductor for 125 different orchestras in 37 states and 12 foreign countries, invariably finding NRO alumni wherever his travels take him.

Carl’s book, The Orchestral Conductor’s Career Handbook published by Rowman and Littlefield, was released in 2021. Containing abundant references to his work with the NRO, it has been endorsed by past NRO Guest Conductors Leonard Slatkin, JoAnn Falletta, Gerard Schwarz, Giancarlo Guerrero, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and others.

Topilow’s wife Shirley is the President and CEO of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. Their daughter Jenny, an NRO alumna from the 2001 and 2003 seasons, is a violinist with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Their daughter Emily is working in marketing, pursuing a master’s degree in communications, and performs as violinist with a local community orchestra. Carl’s hobbies include reading, foreign languages, travel, golf, spectator sports, and especially enjoys his time with his two grandchildren, Edie and Arlo.

Topilow is very proud of the accomplishments of his Assistant Conductors. The orchestras with which they have held or hold positions include the Annapolis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Binghamton (NY) Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Columbus (OH) Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Limoges (France) Opera, Louisville Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, Quad Cities Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Springfield (MA) Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Symphony in C, Symphony of Southeast Texas, Thunder Bay Symphony, and Toledo Symphony.

JEFFREY KAHANE, CONDUCTOR & PIANO

July 1

Equally at home at the piano or on the podium, Jeffrey Kahane is recognized around the world for his mastery of a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart to the music of our time.

Mr. Kahane has appeared as soloist with major orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chicago and San Francisco symphonies among many others and is also a popular artist at all of the major US summer festivals, including Aspen, Blossom, Caramoor, Mostly Mozart and Ravinia. In August 2016, he was appointed Music Director of the Sarasota Music Festival and he also served as the orchestra’s Artistic Advisor for two seasons.

A highly respected chamber musician, Mr. Kahane collaborates with many of today’s most important chamber ensembles and was the Artistic Director of the Green Music Center’s Chamberfest during the summers of 2015 and 2016.

Jeffrey Kahane made his conducting debut at the Oregon Bach Festival in 1988. In May 2017 Mr. Kahane completed his 20th and final season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra where he is Conductor Laureate. He also served as the Music Director of the Colorado Symphony from the 2005/06 season through the 2009/10 season and for ten seasons was Music Director of the Santa Rosa Symphony, where he is also now Conductor Laureate. He has received ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming for his work in both Los Angeles and Denver.

A native of Los Angeles and a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mr. Kahane's early piano studies were with Howard Weisel and Jakob Gimpel. First Prize winner at the 1983 Rubinstein Competition and a finalist at the 1981 Van Cliburn Competition, he was also the recipient of a 1983 Avery Fisher Career Grant. An avid linguist who reads widely in a number of ancient and modern languages, Mr. Kahane received a Master’s Degree in Classics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2011. He is currently a Professor of Keyboard Studies at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.

Jeffrey Kahane resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Martha, a clinical psychologist in private practice. They have two children - Gabriel, a composer, pianist and singer/songwriter and Annie, a dancer and poet.

Jason Seber

July 6 & July 29

Jason Seber recently completed his six-year tenure as Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony. He led the Symphony in over 300 concerts on the Classics Uncorked, Pops, Family, Film + Live Orchestra, Young People’s Concerts, KinderKonzerts, and Link Up series, as well as Christmas Festival, Symphony in the Flint Hills, and many other programs. In October 2019, he made his debut on the Classical Series and recently led another Classical Series program in the spring of 2021. He also served as a co-host for the Symphony’s podcast, “Beethoven Walks into a Bar.”

Prior to his appointment with the Kansas City Symphony, Seber served as Education and Outreach Conductor of the Louisville Orchestra from 2013 to 2016 and Music Director of the Louisville Youth Orchestra from 2005 to 2016. Seber has guest conducted many leading North American orchestras, including the Charleston Symphony, Cleveland Pops, Colorado Symphony, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Nashville Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and the Windsor Symphony. This summer includes return engagements with the Louisville Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Colorado Symphony and Houston Symphony, and a debut with the San Diego Symphony.

A passionate advocate of music education, Seber recently has led the Honors Performance Series Orchestra in performances at Carnegie Hall (2018 and 2022), Royal Festival Hall in London (2019), and the Sydney Opera House (2017). In November 2019 he led the APAC Honors Festival Orchestra in Seoul, Korea. He has served as the All-State Orchestra conductor for Georgia, Missouri and Pennsylvania, and will be the conductor for the Kansas All-State Orchestra in 2024. Seber has performed with classical artists Jinjoo Cho, Paul Jacobs, Conrad Tao, and Joyce Yang, and a diverse range of pops artists including Patti Austin, Andrew Bird, Boyz II Men, Ashley Brown, Melissa Etheridge, Ben Folds, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Lyle Lovett, Brian Stokes Mitchell, My Morning Jacket, Leslie Odom, Jr., Aoife O’Donovan, Pink Martini, Doc Severinsen, Bobby Watson, and Wynonna. He earned his master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music and his bachelor’s degrees in violin performance and music education from Baldwin Wallace University.

Tania Miller

July 15

Canadian Conductor Tania Miller has distinguished herself as a dynamic interpreter, musician and innovator. On the podium, Maestra Miller projects authority, dynamism and sheer love of the experience of making music. As one critic put it, she delivers calm intensity . . . expressive, colourful and full of life . . . her experience and charisma are audible.” Others call her performances “technically immaculate, vivid and stirring”.

Recently named as interim Principal Conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Miller’s 22-23 season featured debuts with the Warsaw Philharmonic, I Musici de Montreal, the New Haven Symphony and Springfield Symphony. Miller has conducted the Virtuoso Chamber Orchestra at the World Orchestra Festival in Daegu, South Korea and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul. Maestra Miller has appeared as a guest conductor in Canada, the United States and Europe with such orchestras as the Bern Symphony Orchestra, NFM Wroclåw Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestra Métropolitain de Montreal, Vancouver Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Naples Philharmonic, Hartford Symphony, Madison Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic and numerous others.

Maestra Miller was Music Director of Canada’s Victoria Symphony for 14 years and was named Music Director Emerita for her commitment to the orchestra and community. She has distinguished herself as a visionary leader and innovator with a deep commitment to contemporary repertoire and composers and has gained a national reputation as a highly effective advocate and communicator for the arts.

Maestra Miller conducted Calgary Opera’s production of Lehar’s Merry Widow and numerous opera productions as Artistic Director of Michigan Opera Works and guest conductor of Opera McGill in Montreal. She was Assistant Conductor of the Carmel Bach Festival for four seasons, and Assistant and Associate Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony from 20002004. She was Assistant Conductor of the Banff Summer Festival of the Arts opera production of Michael Daugherty’s Jackie O.

Ms. Miller has a Doctorate and Master’s degree in Conducting from the University of Michigan. Ms. Miller received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Royal Roads University, and an Honorary Fellowship Diploma from Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music for her commitment to leadership in community and music education. She was recipient of the 2017 Friends of Canadian Music award from the Canadian League of Composers for her dedication to the performance of contemporary music.