When Michael Stern first stepped onto the podium with Orchestra Lumos, the chemistry was immediate.
“It was a very easy fit,” he recalled. “They’re a wonderful bunch of musicians.”
After years of leading major ensembles across the country — including the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado and the Kansas City Symphony — Stern welcomed the chance to make music closer to home in Connecticut.
“When you have a group of really fine players right around the corner, you realize how lucky you are,” he said.
Originally, Stern was invited to guest-conduct what was then the Stamford Symphony. Soon after, he accepted the role of music director, starting his first official season in 2020-2021. At that time, he helped guide the orchestra as it changed its name from The Stamford Symphony to Orchestra Lumos, a name that means “light” and was less geographic while reflecting the group’s regional reach and mission to connect with people of all backgrounds through music.
“We wanted to make the point that we’re not just the orchestra for one city,” Stern said, “but for all the communities across Fairfield County. The idea is that you don’t have to travel to New York or Boston to experience great music — you can have it right here.”
The orchestra takes the stage at The Palace Theatre in Stamford, Conn., for two concerts entitled “Rhapsody” on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 16 at 3 p.m., promising a program that celebrates both the diversity and the shared spirit of American music.
“Our entire season is loosely titled ‘America 250’,” Stern said, “but it’s not about one kind of patriotic statement. American music is enormously diverse. Who’s to say who’s ‘more American’ — Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, Charles Ives, or Gershwin? They all wrote completely different music, and they’re all American. That’s what makes it so rich.”
The “Rhapsody” program reflects that range through works old and new, including two piano concertos performed by pianist Joyce Yang, a Grammy-nominated, internationally renowned artist and longtime friend and collaborator of Stern’s. Yang will perform Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” alongside the world premiere of composer Jonathan Leshnoff’s “Rhapsody,” a set of piano variations written for piano and orchestra, co-commissioned by Orchestra Lumos.
“Jonathan took the familiar tune ‘My Country, ’Tis of Thee’ and reimagined it the way Rachmaninoff did with Paganini’s theme,” Stern explained. “It’s the same idea, but through a very American lens — and it was a natural fit to present the two together.”
The program also includes music by Antonín Dvořák, whose influence on American composition was profound. “When Dvořák came to New York in the 1890s to lead the National Conservatory, he told American composers to stop looking to Europe for inspiration,” Stern said. “He said, ‘Look at what you have here — folk songs, spirituals, the beginnings of jazz and ragtime’. That message had a direct line to everything that followed: big band, Tin Pan Alley, real American jazz.”
For Stern, “Rhapsody” is “about freedom, imagination, and the conversation between cultures. That’s what America’s music has always been, and that’s what this program celebrates,” he explained.
On the orchestra’s home, Stern calls The Palace “a landmark, a true Stamford tradition. The orchestra has been playing there for years, and it’s a welcoming space. It’s where our audience gathers, and that connection matters more than anything.”
That sense of connection extends to the concert experience itself. Before each performance there, Stern meets with audience members for a short pre-concert talk, offering “a little behind-the-scenes insight” into the evening’s program, composers, and soloists. “People really enjoy hearing the story behind what they’re about to hear,” he said. “It makes the music feel more personal.”
Looking ahead, in February, Disney’s “Fantasia” will be screened with live orchestral accompaniment — “a magical experience for kids, grandkids, and adults alike,” Stern said. Then, in April, the orchestra will premiere a piece titled “Five Portraits,” a collaborative work by five American composers, each creating a musical “portrait” of a person or event that helped shape the nation.
In addition to the Palace performances, Lumos musicians can be heard through the Small Spaces series, which brings music to smaller venues. Of special local interest: on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m., the Lumos Jazz Trio will perform “The History of Jazz in 80 Minutes” at The Osborn in Rye, a free community concert tracing the evolution of jazz from Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Bud Powell, and even pop icons like The Beatles and Stevie Wonder.
“We want to be the engine for great music across the region. Whether it’s Gershwin, Copeland, or something brand new, our musicians bring extraordinary artistry to every performance,” Stern said.
