Palm Beach Opera Extends Contract of Conductor David Stern

Palm Beach Opera has revealed the contract extension of internationally-acclaimed conductor David Stern through the 2026-2027 season with the new title of Music Director. Maestro Stern has served as Palm Beach Opera's Chief Conductor since 2015, an appointment that was made following his impressive musical leadership of the company's world premiere of Enemies, A Love Story by Ben Moore and Nahma Sandrow.

Stern made his debut with PBO with Macbeth in 2014, and he has been on the podium for 18 company productions over the last decade. Regularly praised for the colors he draws from the orchestra and his supportive collaboration with leading singers, his most recent PBO performance of The Tales of Hoffmann - a work known as a challenging cornucopia of musical styles - was called "expertly conducted" by the Palm Beach Daily News.

Throughout his tenure with PBO, Maestro Stern's position has been sponsored by noted philanthropist and longtime PBO Board Member Ari Rifkin, and the company is thrilled to announce that Mrs. Rifkin has made an increased multi-year commitment to Maestro Stern's position.

According to PBO's general director James Barbato, "Maestro Stern has been a bedrock of musical excellence at Palm Beach Opera for more than a decade, and his passionate performances have been among the company's most memorable highlights. He has the rare gift of expertise in a wide range of repertoire from Mozart to Puccini and beyond. Moreover, he is a strong artistic partner who shares our vision for achieving the very highest standards of the artform and for the growth of this great company. We look forward to many more years of collaboration with Maestro Stern, and we are very grateful to Ari Rifkin for her continued support."

David Stern added, "After 10 years of conducting productions at the Palm Beach Opera, I am thrilled to be offered the position of Music Director and am looking forward to deepening my attachment to the PBO company and community. The artistic collaboration with the PBO orchestra and chorus over these years has been a privilege and a sincere pleasure. I am proud to have been able to work with an outstanding level of invited soloists as well as the remarkable talents of our resident artist program. The opera festival we managed to produce during the COVID period showed the tenacity and commitment of the company, and above all, the conviction that culture remains essential today. I am excited to collaborate with our new General Director James Barbato in this new era for the company. Under his leadership I see a bright future for the Palm Beach Opera."

The Palm Beach Opera Orchestra committee remarked, "The Palm Beach Opera Orchestra looks forward to our continued work with Maestro Stern in the coming years. His commitment to musical excellence and his dedication to our company over these past 10 years serve as testament to his leadership and the ongoing successes of the Palm Beach Opera."

Beyond Palm Beach Opera, David Stern has made an indelible impact on the international music scene, having served as Music Director at the Israel Opera in Tel Aviv and Opera St Gallen in Switzerland. In 2003, he founded the Paris-based company Opera Fuoco, focusing on historically-informed performances and the development of young vocalists. Maestro Stern and Opera Fuoco will embark on a multi-year residency at Opéra de Massy starting in September 2024, featuring works by Boyce, Handel, Mozart, and Bernstein. Other future projects include a groundbreaking production of Monteverdi's The Return of Ulysses with hip-hop choreographer Anne Nguyen in 2027, and Mendelssohn's version of Bach's St Matthew Passion at the Bachfest in Leipzig.

Stern's commitment to young artists is exemplified by his founding of the Académie International d'Art Lyrique at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in 1998. He continues to engage with young artists' programs worldwide, including regular collaborations with the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute. This season, he will also serve as guest conductor for the DEMOS project in St Quentin en Yvelines, a French adaptation of the El Sistema youth music program.

David Stern's extensive discography includes rare operas and concertos, such as Giovanni Simone Mayr's L'amor conjugale and Medea in Corinto, JC Bach's Zanaïda, and Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark. His orchestral engagements feature performances with the Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony, and the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston, among others.

Maestro Stern is a graduate of Yale College and the Juilliard School, and is the son of famed violinist Isaac Stern.

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