Seattle Symphony Press Kit

Gerard Schwarz

Music Director

Renowned American conductor Gerard Schwarz celebrates his 23rd season as Seattle Symphony Music Director in the 2007–2008 season. Under Schwarz's artistic leadership, the Symphony has evolved into one of the world's finest orchestras. His vast repertoire, including his devotion to the music of our time, has earned him praise both in concerts worldwide and on recordings, for his compelling sensitivity and extraordinary depth. Maestro Schwarz is Principal Conductor of the Eastern Music Festival and serves on the NEA’s National Council on the Arts.

Maestro Schwarz began his conducting career in 1966, and within ten years he was appointed Music Director of the Waterloo Music Festival, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, Eliot Feld Dance Company and the Erick Hawkins Dance Company. In 1981 he founded the Music Today Contemporary Series and served as its Music Director through 1989. From 1982 to 2001, he was Music Director of New York's Mostly Mozart Festival and currently serves as its Conductor Emeritus. Maestro Schwarz co-founded the New York Chamber Symphony in 1977 and served as its Music Director through the ensemble's 25th anniversary season in 2002. He was Music Director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 2001 through 2006.

In 1983, Maestro Schwarz came to Seattle Symphony as Music Advisor. The following year he was appointed Principal Conductor and since 1985 has held the post of Music Director. Since becoming Music Director, Maestro Schwarz has initiated several concert series and introduced many new works to Seattle Symphony's repertoire. His nearly 100 recordings with the Seattle Symphony, many including music by contemporary American composers, have received widespread recognition including 11 Grammy nominations, and further enhanced the reputation of the Seattle Symphony as a leader among ensembles performing music of our time. The Seattle Symphony was recognized nationally for its adventurous programming in 1996 and 2004, when it received the First Place Award for Programming of Contemporary Music from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).

Maestro Schwarz was integral to the creation of Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony, which opened in downtown Seattle on September 12, 1998. The Hall's superb acoustics have been praised by visiting guest artists, conductors, performing ensembles, music critics and the Symphony's patrons.

During the Seattle Symphony's Centennial Season in 2003-2004, Maestro Schwarz led the Orchestra in specially commissioned world premieres by six of our country's foremost composers, and led the Orchestra in its first-ever East Coast tour which included the Orchestra's Carnegie Hall debut.

Building on Maestro Schwarz's tradition of performing and recording contemporary American music, the Symphony presented the Made in America Festival: Part I in May 2005, featuring the music of American symphonists such as Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, William Schuman, Virgil Thomson, Leonard Bernstein and others who created a distinctive American symphonic tradition.

As Music Director of the New York Chamber Symphony, Maestro Schwarz expanded the orchestra's programming from a few concerts annually to a full schedule of New York appearances, plus tours and recordings.

During his tenure with Mostly Mozart Festival, Maestro Schwarz conducted a large repertoire, including many early Mozart operas in concert form. He led the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in debuts at Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals, as well as nine years of performances in Tokyo at Tokyu Bunkamura's Orchard Hall.

Further expanding his relationship with Tokyu Bunkamura, Maestro Schwarz became Artistic Advisor to Tokyu Bunkamura's Orchard Hall, conducting six programs annually with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1994-98.

Gerard Schwarz made his operatic conducting debut in 1982 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with Washington Opera's production of Die Entührung aus dem Serail followed by Salome and Fidelio. That was followed by the American premiere of Wagner's second opera Das Liebesverbot in 1983 and Wagner's version of Gluck's Iphigenia in Aulis in 1984, both for Waterloo Festival. He made his Seattle Opera debut in January 1986 in Mozart's Così fan tutte; in subsequent seasons he has conducted Die Zauberflöte, Der Freischütz, Le nozze di Figaro, Salome, Don Giovanni, Falstaff, Ariadne auf Naxos, Der fliegende Holländer, Fidelio, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Cunning Little Vixen, Elektra, La traviata, and Der Rosenkavalier, among others. Maestro Schwarz has guest conducted most of the great orchestras of the world and has collaborated with most of the pre-eminent soloists as well as helped the careers of many young artists.

Mr. Schwarz has an extensive discography with Naxos, Delos, EMI, Koch, New World, Nonesuch, Reference Recording, RLPO Classics, and RCA, primarily with the Seattle Symphony. He has also recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, London Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra National de France, The Juilliard Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and New York Chamber Orchestra. His recent recording activity includes all the Mahler symphonies and Strauss tone poems with Liverpool. In addition, he has made numerous recordings for the Milken Archive for American Jewish Music, including several with the Seattle Symphony. Seattle Symphony's first CD recorded entirely in Benaroya Hall, an all-William Schuman disc that includes his Symphonies Nos. 4 and 9, was released in May 2005 on the Naxos label.

Maestro Schwarz's first recording of music by Howard Hanson was a mainstay on the Billboard's classical music best-selling list for 41 weeks, including six weeks at number three. It was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Classical Album of 1989, and earned a 1989 Record of the Year honor from Stereo Review. The next three Schwarz recordings featuring Hanson's music appeared on Billboard's best selling charts and each earned Grammy nominations. He has received two Record of the Year Awards and a Mumms Ovation Award. Maestro Schwarz's recording of the Mount St. Helens Symphony, by Alan Hovhaness, debuted on Billboard's chart at No. 17 and rose quickly to No. 5.

In 2002, Gerard Schwarz was nominated for a primetime Emmy for his Live from Lincoln Center performance of Mozart's Requiem, which was broadcast on PBS. In addition to his many appearances on the Live from Lincoln Center series, Mr. Schwarz's television credits include a 1984 KCTS TV/Seattle (PBS) broadcast of Mahler's Symphony No. 2; Front Row Center, a KING TV/Seattle (NBC) award-winning 1985 broadcast featuring Copland's Billy the Kid suite; A Grand Night, PBS's March 1988 celebration of the performing arts, for which he served as music director; two KCTS broadcasts of his acclaimed educational concerts titled Musically Speaking; a nationally telecast performance in France with the Orchestre Philharmonique; A Romantic Evening, a broadcast on KCTS in February 1993, which received a Northwest Regional Emmy Award; a live broadcast by KCTS of the Gala Opening Night Concert in Benaroya Hall on September 12, 1998; and an August 1999 National PBS TV Broadcast of "Seattle Symphony: Home at Last," that presented the Gala Opening Night Concert in Benaroya Hall with additional interviews and information hosted by National Public Radio commentator Susan Stamberg.

In May 2002, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized Gerard Schwarz as a champion of American music and the music of our time. According to ASCAP, Maestro Schwarz "exemplifies the ideal American conductor. ASCAP honors his leadership and commitment to bring the music of our time to audiences everywhere, through his concerts and recordings."

Maestro Schwarz has received a number of other awards, including being named 1994 Conductor of the Year by Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts, the first American to receive this award. In April 2003, the Pacific Northwest Branch of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences gave Maestro Schwarz its first “IMPACT” lifetime achievement award. In January 2004 Gerard Schwarz was appointed to the NEA National Council on the Arts. In September 2006 he will receive a Mayor’s Arts Award, given by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels for extraordinary achievement and contribution in the arts.

Maestro Schwarz, born to Viennese parents, is a graduate of the High School of Performing Arts and The Juilliard School. He is a recipient of the Ditson Conductor's Award from Columbia University and has honorary Doctorates from The Juilliard School, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Seattle University and the University of Puget Sound. In 2001 he was named Honorary Fellow of John Moores University, Liverpool.