CONDUCTORS

MICHAEL STERN, Music Director

June 29 July 2, 8, 9 & 26 August 3, 6 & 13

Conductor Michael Stern has long been devoted to building and leading highly acclaimed orchestras known not only for their impeccable musicianship and creative programming, but also for collaborative, sustainable cultures that often include a vision of music as service to the community. He also is passionate about working with young musicians not only in music-making, but also to incorporate the idea of “service” into their experiences. Stern currently holds three Music Director positions: with the

Kansas City Symphony, where he will be concluding his 19-year tenure at the end of the 2023-2024 season; with the National

Repertory Orchestra, a summer music festival in Breckenridge,

CO; and with the newly rebranded Orchestra Lumos (formerly the

Stamford Symphony). Stern was recently named Artistic Advisor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. And, following a 22-year tenure as founding Artistic Director of Iris Orchestra in

Germantown, Tennessee, he now serves the newly reimagined

Iris Collective as Artistic Advisor. 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 will be 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 Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras. 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.

JENNIFER TAYLOR

“For 62 years, the National Repertory Orchestra has been at the center of helping to shape American music in this country. It is extraordinary. Thousands of NRO alumni populate every major orchestra across the United States, many in principal positions. They are teachers, performers and advocates. They have changed our musical discourse, and are passionate and fervently committed to making a difference. There is simply no other program like the National Repertory Orchestra and I am privileged to be a part of it.” - Michael Stern

CONDUCTORS

CARL TOPILOW, Music Advisor

June 25 July 4 & 21

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 Advisor, he is remaining active with the organization. Carl is looking forward to continuing his work with Music Director Michael ELAINE COLLINS Stern and to 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.

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.

UNDERWRITERS Annette and Ken Hallock

JASON SEBER

July 12 & 19

Jason Seber is celebrating his sixth year with the Kansas City Symphony, beginning as Assistant Conductor in the 2016-17 season, and as Associate Conductor starting in the 2017-18 season. In this position he has built a strong rapport with the Kansas City community, leading the Symphony in over 300 concerts on the Classics TODD ROSENBERG 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 serves 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. He has also served as Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra. Seber has guest conducted many leading North American orchestras, including the Charleston Symphony, Cleveland Pops, Colorado Symphony, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and the Windsor Symphony. Upcoming engagements include the Houston Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony.

A passionate advocate of music education, Seber recently led programs with the National Repertory Orchestra at concerts in Breckenridge and as part of the Bravo! Vail Music Festival. He returns to conduct the NRO in July 2022. He 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 Missouri and Georgia, and will be the conductor for the Pennsylvania and Kansas All-State Orchestras in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

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, 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.

CONDUCTORS

TEDDY ABRAMS

July 16

An unusually versatile musician, Teddy Abrams is the widely acclaimed Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, where he has fostered interdisciplinary collaborations across the city, including as leader of Louisville’s cultural response to the pandemic with the Lift Up Lou initiative. In Louisville, Teddy led the world CHRISTOPHER BRISCOE premieres of his own piano concerto written for Yuja Wang and a concerto for timba band and orchestra composed by GRAMMY winner Dafnis Prieto. He collaborated with Jim James, vocalist and guitarist for My Morning Jacket, on the song cycle The Order of Nature, which they premiered and recorded with the Louisville Orchestra in 2018. His rap-opera, The Greatest: Muhammad Ali, premiered in 2017, celebrating Louisville’s hometown hero with an all-star cast that included Rhiannon Giddens and Jubilant Sykes, as well as Jecorey “1200” Arthur, with whom he started the Louisville Orchestra Rap School. Abrams’ work with the Louisville Orchestra has been profiled on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, PBS’ Articulate, and the PBS NewsHour. In recognition of his groundbreaking work, Teddy Abrams was named Musical America’s 2022 Conductor of the Year.

Teddy Abrams is Music Director and Conductor of the Britt Festival Orchestra, where, in addition to an annual threeweek festival of concerts, he has taken the orchestra across the region in the creation of new work—including Michael Gordon’s Natural History, which was premiered on the edge of Crater Lake National Park in partnership with the National Parks Service, and was the subject of the PBS documentary Symphony for Nature; and Pulitzer Prize-winning-composer Caroline Shaw’s Brush, an experiential work written to be performed on the Jacksonville Woodlands Trail system.

As a guest conductor, Teddy has worked with such distinguished ensembles as the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Chicago, San Francisco, National, Houston, Pacific, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Vancouver, Colorado, Utah, and Phoenix Symphonies; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; and the Sarasota and Florida Orchestras. Internationally, he has worked with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, and the Malaysian Philharmonic. He served as Assistant Conductor of the Detroit Symphony from 20122014. From 2008 to 2011, Abrams was the Conducting Fellow and Assistant Conductor of the New World Symphony.

NICHOLAS MCGEGAN

July 23

Nic McGegan — long hailed as “one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation” (The Independent) and “an expert in 18th-century style” (The New Yorker) — is recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. He is Music Director Laureate of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra LAURA BARISONZI and Chorale, and Principal Guest Conductor of Hungary’s Capella Savaria.

Best known as a baroque and classical specialist, McGegan’s approach— intelligent, infused with joy and never dogmatic — has led to appearances with many of the world’s major orchestras.

Highlights of his 21/22 guest bookings in North America include appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra at both the Kennedy Center and the new Capital One Hall; the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; a string of Messiah engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Apollo’s Fire; the Santa Barbara Symphony; Pasadena Symphony; his annual return to St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in their all-Mozart semi-final round, which he led at the last competition in 2017. In Europe, he appears with the NDR Radio Philharmonie in Handel’s Acis and Galatea HWV 49 (Mendelssohn’s version); the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra; and several performances with Capella Savaria. McGegan’s prolific discography includes more than 100 releases spanning five decades. Having recorded over 50 albums of Handel, McGegan has explored the depths of the composer’s output with a dozen oratorios and close to twenty of his operas. Since the 1980s, more than twenty of his recordings have been with Hungary’s Capella Savaria on the Hungaroton label, including groundbreaking recordings of repertoire by Handel, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Telemann, Vivaldi, Kraus, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Mozart and Haydn. His extensive discography with Philharmonia Baroque includes two GRAMMY nominees, Handel’s Susana and Haydn’s Symphonies 104, 88, and 101. McGegan has also released two recent albums with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra under the BIS label: Josef Mysliveček’s Complete Music for Keyboard with soloist Clare Hammond and an album of early horn concertos with soloist Alec Frank-Gemmill.

Mr. McGegan is committed to the next generation of musicians, frequently conducting and coaching students in residencies and engagements at Yale University, the Juilliard School, Harvard University, the Colburn School, Aspen Music Festival and School, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West.

English-born, Nic McGegan was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to music overseas.”

CONDUCTORS

TANIA MILLER

July 30

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 TODD ROSENBERG charisma are audible.” Others call her performances “technically immaculate, vivid and stirring”.

Miller’s 21-22 season features debuts with the World Orchestra Festival in Daegu, South Korea with concerts in Daegu, Hwaseong, and Seoul with the Virtuoso Chamber Orchestra. Miller recently debuted with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul and will debut this season with Calgary Opera. Recent engagements include L’Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, the Vancouver Symphony and London Symphonia and this season she will conduct the Vermont Symphony, Elgin Symphony and Rockford Symphonies among others. 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, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestra Métropolitain de Montreal, Vancouver Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Hartford Symphony, Madison Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, 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. An avid writer about music and the arts, her writing has been featured in the American Symphony Orchestra League’s Symphony Magazine, Toronto’s Globe and Mail, and Better Humans.

Maestra Miller will conduct Calgary Opera next season, and has previously conducted numerous productions as Artistic Director of Michigan Opera Works (Rape of Lucretia, Semele, Dido and Aeneas), as Conductor of Opera McGill in Montreal (Tales of Hoffmann, Marriage of Figaro), as Assistant Conductor of University of Michigan Opera (Daughter of the Regiment, L’Enfant et les Sortileges, Le Rossignol, Magic Flute) and as assistant to Michigan Opera Theatre’s production of Eugene Onegin. She was Assistant Conductor of the Carmel Bach Festival for four seasons with Bruno Weil, and Assistant and Associate Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony from 2000-2004.

Ms. Miller has a Doctorate and Masters 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.

STEVEN SCHICK

August 10

Percussionist, conductor, and author Steven Schick was born in Iowa and raised in a farming family. Hailed by Alex Ross in the New Yorker as, “one of our supreme living virtuosos, not just of percussion but of any instrument,” he has championed contemporary percussion music by commissioning or premiering more than one hundred-fifty new works. The most important of these have become core repertory for solo percussion. Schick was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 2014.

Steven Schick is artistic director of the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. As a conductor, he has appeared with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, Ensemble Modern, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and the Asko/Schönberg Ensemble.

DON’T MISS A BEAT

Download the NRO app for complete conductor bios and fun facts!

NROmusic.org