Stern lives in Connecticut with his two daughters.[3]
Career
In May 1986, only weeks before his graduation from the Curtis Institute, Stern auditioned for and won the job of conducting assistant at The Cleveland Orchestra, where the music director was Christoph von Dohnányi. The audition and the position were both organized under the aegis of the Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductor's Program. Stern officially was named a full assistant conductor the following season, and stayed with the orchestra until 1991. In September 1986, he debuted at the New York Philharmonic as one of three young conductors whom Leonard Bernstein invited to participate in a conducting workshop which culminated in two concerts at Avery Fisher Hall.[4]
That year, Stern became the permanent guest conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon in Lyon, France. During his four years with the Orchestre National, he also appeared with orchestras in Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, and Toulouse, as well as others throughout Europe.
In 1996, he left the Orchestre National to become chief conductor of the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, a prominent recording and broadcast orchestra in Germany, making him the first American to hold the position of chief conductor in that orchestra's history. His work there is also notable for the orchestra's many recordings of American classical music during his tenure, including discs of works by Henry Cowell and Charles Ives. He also led the orchestra on tours of Spain, Portugal, China and Switzerland. He stepped down as chief conductor in 2000.[citation needed]
On September 30, 2005, Stern accepted an appointment as music director and lead conductor of the Kansas City Symphony.[5] He also continues his guest conducting travels and his work with the IRIS Orchestra.
In 2019, Stern was selected as the music director at the Stamford Symphony in Stamford, Connecticut.[7] The Stamford Symphony was later renamed Orchestra Lumos in June 2022 because a majority of its audience resided outside of Stamford.[8]
In January 2021, Stern accepted an appointment as music director of the National Repertory Orchestra (NRO) in Breckenridge, Colorado. He is only the NRO's third music director since its establishment in 1960, preceded by founder Walter Charles and Carl Topilow.[9][10]