WARD STARE
GRAMMY-winning conductor Ward Stare, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “A rising-star in the conducting firmament,” was Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 2014 - 2021. He has been praised for “inspiring musicians to impressive heights” by The New York Times, and as “a dynamic music director” by Rochester CITY Newspaper.
In demand worldwide, Stare has led symphony and opera orchestras in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Toronto, Miami (New World), Rome (Italy), Japan, Oslo (Norway), Sydney (Australia), and the DSO-Berlin. Stare served as resident conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2012 and returns frequently as a guest. Stare made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 2017, conducting Lehár’s The Merry Widow with Susan Graham in the title role, and has had several critically-acclaimed collaborations with the Lyric Opera of Chicago including productions of Hansel and Gretel, Die Fledermaus, and Porgy and Bess. A passionate advocate for arts education, Stare is a Distinguished Artist at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. In 2016, Stare recorded Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra, by R.E.M. bassist/songwriter Mike Mills with the ensemble and its founder, Robert McDuffie. An enthusiastic collaborator and performer of new music, Stare gave the world premiere of Pravda, by Academy Award-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal and the regional premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis’s Flute Concerto, featuring Marina Piccinini. In 2020, Stare’s recording with the RPO, American Rapture, featuring Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto with Yolanda Kondonassis as soloist, won the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.