Quick Facts
Biography
Ward Stare (Born August 27, 1982) is an American conductor. Stare is currently the Music Director for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and was formerly the Resident Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra – a position created for him in the fall of 2008 by Music Director David Robertson – and concurrently acted as Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Biography
Early life
Stare was born and raised in Rochester, New York. Stare was trained as a trombonist at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. At the age of 18, he was appointed principal trombonist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and has performed as an orchestral musician with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, among others.
Career
In August 2007, Stare made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Center. Stare also made appearances with the Memphis Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra – both in Russia and on the orchestra's North American tour – as well as a special performance with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra as part of the Orchestra's "Great Artists of the World" series celebrating the 80th birthday of the King of Thailand.
Stare spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons as a League of American Orchestras Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and conducted concerts on the orchestra's Toyota Symphonies for Youth Series. In the fall of 2008, Stare served as assistant conductor to Sir Andrew Davis at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for their new production of Alban Berg's Lulu.
In 2009, Stare made his debut with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, as second conductor in Ives' Symphony No. 4, as well as his subscription debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
In April 2009, Stare made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Stare returned in June 2010, leading the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra in their New York City debut at the Riverside Church.
The 2010 and 2011 season Stare's returned to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin as guest conductor, as well as his European operatic debut at the Norwegian Opera in Oslo, with a production of Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia.
Stare's 2012 and 2013 season was full of many new debuts, in April 2012 Stare conducted with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time, in December 2012 Stare conducted his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut with their production of Hänsel und Gretel, and has upcoming debuts with both the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Stare's 2012 and 2013 season also features his continued involvement with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
On July 29, 2014 it was announced that Ward would become the Music Director for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra effective September 1, 2014.
Honors and awards
Stare was the recipient of both the Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize in 2006 and the Aspen Conducting Prize in 2007 at the Aspen Music Festival.
In November 2011 Stare was honored with Musician of the Month by Musical America.