Adam Stern was appointed Music Director of the Sammamish Symphony in the summer of 2015, after having served for several months as Interim Conductor. He brings more than forty years of conducting experience to the orchestra, as well as his characteristic programming which blends time-honored classics with little-known rarities.

Stern began his musical studies at age five as a piano student, and began flute lessons two years later. At 15, Stern was accepted at California Institute of the Arts, where he initially majored in flute performance, but changed his major to conducting in his second year at the urging of the late Gerhard Samuel, a noted conductor and educator. Stern was graduated in 1977 with an MFA in conducting at 21, the youngest Masters degree recipient in CalArts’ history.

Stern served as Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 1996 to 2001 and as Assistant Conductor from 1992 to 1996, conducting in all of the Symphony’s major concert series. In addition to conducting numerous classical concerts, Stern also made several ventures into the “pops” field, collaborating with such artists as James Taylor, Judy Collins, Art Garfunkel, Doc Severinsen and Frank Sinatra Jr. Guest-conducting engagements have included those with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the New York Chamber Symphony, the Boulder Philharmonic, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble at Michigan State University, the Sacramento Symphony, and Chamber Music Northwest in Portland.

Stern is also an acclaimed composer, pianist, and producer. His official Opus 1, “Dance Variations”, was a prize-winning entry at the Delius Composition Competition in 1978. He has composed incidental music for productions of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “King Lear,” “The Winter’s Tale,” “Waiting for the Parade” and “Sweet Eros.” His score for “Richard III” earned him a Los Angeles Dramalogue Award for Best Original Score. As a soloist, he has been heard with the Seattle Symphony, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Rainer Symphony and Port Angeles Symphony in concertos by Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Gershwin. He has also been featured as a chamber musician in Seattle and at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, in a wide range of works from Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert to Ravel, Frank Martin, Copland, Gail Kubik and Eugène Ysaÿe. As an award-winning recording producer, Stern earned a Grammy as Classical Producer of the Year, principally for his recordings with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony.