The Symphony Board is delighted that its artistic director will continue to bring his vision, talent, and impressive list of guest artists to our community.
The Santa Cruz Symphony has just signed its maestro and artistic director, Daniel Stewart, for a landmark additional ten years. He has been affiliated with the organization since 2013, contributing his creative vision and leading the professional orchestra to new heights.
“We are ecstatic to have the amazing talents of Maestro Stewart for another decade,” said Linda Burroughs, board president. “I cannot use enough superlatives. He has brought acclaim to our Symphony, which is quite impressive for an orchestra performing in a small community. Donors and sponsors tell us that they support the Symphony specifically because they love Danny and his visionary programming.”
Maestro Stewart said, “Looking back over the past eight seasons, it's clear that we have been building something truly extraordinary together. I am filled with gratitude and excitement about our future”
He added that the Symphony has featured many of the world’s leading artists, including superstar pianist Yuja Wang, Berlin Philharmonic’s first concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley, composer Mason Bates, vocalist and songwriter Storm Large, and more than 25 Metropolitan Opera stars.
In addition to garnering consistent critical acclaim for the SCS, Maestro Stewart has helped reach a younger and more diverse audience.
“His collaboration and creative vision are significant reasons we are so enthusiastic about retaining Danny for the next several years,” said President Burroughs. “We are quite privileged to have an artistic director of his caliber working right here in Santa Cruz County. He loves this community and is steadfast in his dedication to presenting memorable performances for us.”
Maestro Stewart commented, “We have so much to look forward to in the years ahead, including complete symphonic cycles by Beethoven and Mahler, more commissions, world premieres, opera, and collaborations with stars such as Yuja Wang. We also will have even more community and educational partnerships with a sustained commitment to diversity through our art.
"It is with great love and appreciation to all of our patrons, sponsors, staff, board members, league members, volunteers, and brilliant musicians of the Santa Cruz Symphony that I look forward to our continued journey together!”
The Santa Cruz Symphony recently announced its 2021-22 season, which opens the weekend of October 23-24 with a string program. For more information, visit www.SantaCruzSymphony.org
About Maestro Daniel Stewart
Daniel Stewart is the Music Director of the Santa Cruz Symphony, and Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. Hailed by The Boston Musical Intelligencer as “A fascinatingly vibrant conductor,” Maestro Stewart’s tenure as music director in Santa Cruz has led to unprecedented acclaim, including the Peninsula Reviews' assertion that "...the Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Stewart has now developed into the finest musical ensemble South of San Francisco and North of Los Angeles."
Maestro Stewart’s 2021/22 season includes his subscription debut with the San Francisco Symphony in a program featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The recipient of the 2010 Aspen Music Festival's James Conlon Conducting Prize, he has conducted orchestras including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Saint-Louis Symphony, Hessischer Rundfunk Orchester, Frankfurt Opern Orchestra, Boston Ballet, New World Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, Midsummer Mozart Festival, Orlando Philharmonic, and the Opera companies of the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, and Aspen Festival.
In 2012, the Metropolitan Opera appointed Mr. Stewart as the first conductor of its Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. In 2013, he made his acclaimed Lincoln Center debut in a Metropolitan Opera-produced concert of comic operas by Stravinsky, Mozart, Donizetti, and Berlioz. During his tenure with the Metropolitan Opera, he conducted the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and soloists in a comprehensive range of the operatic repertoire.
Mr. Stewart’s transformative work with the Santa Cruz Symphony has earned international recognition and a reputation for attracting notable talent, including frequent collaborations with artists such as pianist Yuja Wang, whose most recent appearances with the orchestra were described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “Nothing short of miraculous. The sheer excitement of witnessing such extraordinary music making was an experience to be remembered.” During his tenure as music director, he has also featured more than 20 principal singers from the Metropolitan Opera, established a thriving chamber music series, expanded education programs, and increased local collaborative partnerships.
Notable collaborations with leading contemporary composers have included the late Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mason Bates, HK Gruber, John Wineglass, and particularly Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Thomas Adès, whom he assisted as cover conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's "Aspects of Adès" festival in 2011. The maestro’s own compositions have been performed at venues including the Aspen Music Festival, Tribeca New Music Festival, and Verbier Festival.
An accomplished violist, Mr. Stewart has performed in more than 40 countries and has previously served as principal violist of numerous ensembles including the New World Symphony and Verbier Festival Orchestras. He has collaborated closely in this capacity with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Michael Tilson-Thomas.
A former assistant conductor to Charles Dutoit with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Kurt Masur with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, James Levine with the Metropolitan Opera, and Michael Tilson-Thomas with the New World Symphony, Mr. Stewart received his formal conducting education from the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Otto-Werner Mueller, Simon Rattle, Christoph Eschenbach, and Alan Gilbert.