View source for Gerard Schwarz

{{distinguish|Gerhard Schwarz}}
{{Short description|American symphony conductor and trumpeter}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2011}}
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[[File:Gerard Schwarz portrait painting by Michele Rushworth.jpg|thumb|Portrait painting of Gerard Schwarz by artist Michele Rushworth, oil on canvas, 80" x 50", Benaroya Hall, Seattle]]
'''Gerard Schwarz''' (born August 19, 1947), also known as '''Gerry Schwarz'''<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lipman |first1=Samuel |title=Conductor of the Year 1994 |url=https://www.musicalamerica.com/features/?fid=248&fyear=1994 |website=Musical America |access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref> or '''Jerry Schwarz''',<ref>{{cite web |last1=DeCwikiel-Kane |first1=Dawn |title=EMF Breaks New Ground and Records |url=https://www.greensboro.com/emf-breaks-new-ground-and-records/article_e591b011-a0a7-54dc-b0e0-6e1a5b87f77d.html |website=News & Record |date=July 28, 2005 |access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref> is an American symphony [[Conducting|conductor]] and trumpeter. As of 2019, Schwarz serves as the Artistic and Music Director of Palm Beach Symphony<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sjostrom |first1=Jan |title=Palm Beach Symphony appoints former Seattle Symphony maestro Gerard Schwarz its new music director |url=https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/20190529/palm-beach-symphony-appoints-former-seattle-symphony-maestro-gerard-schwarz-its-new-music-director |website=Palm Beach Daily News |access-date=31 May 2019}}</ref> and the Director of Orchestral Activities and Music Director of the Frost Symphony Orchestra at the [[Frost School of Music]] at the [[University of Miami]].

==Early life==
Schwarz was born in [[Weehawken, New Jersey]], to [[Jewish]] parents. His parents were both physicians and took him to concerts and opera performances. Schwarz began his trumpet career at age 8. By 12 years of age, he dedicated his life to becoming a musician. He graduated from New York City's [[High School of Performing Arts]]<ref name="Alumni">{{cite web |url=https://alumniandfriends.org/our-community/notable-alumni/ |title=LAGUARDIA ARTS ALUMNI |accessdate=2017-07-05 }}</ref> and [[Juilliard School of Music]] and began his musical career as a trumpeter, performing until 1977 as co-principal of the [[New York Philharmonic]] under [[Pierre Boulez]]. He began conducting in 1966.

Schwarz champions American composers, past and present. He has made more than 100 recordings with the Seattle Symphony including many American works. In particular, he won acclaim for his recordings of symphonies and orchestral works by [[Walter Piston]], [[Howard Hanson]], [[William Schuman]], [[Alan Hovhaness]], and [[David Diamond (composer)|David Diamond]].

Schwarz built the strength of the Seattle Symphony. In 1983 it had 5,000 subscribers; as of 2008 it had 35,000.<ref>Seattle Times article on 2008-09-10</ref> He spearheaded the effort to build [[Benaroya Hall]] for the symphony. However, his leadership style of the Seattle Symphony was controversial among some musicians.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/arts/music/16waki.html?st=cse&sq=seattle+symphony&scp=3|title=A New York Times article on the internal politics of the Seattle Symphony Site|last1=Wakin|first1=Daniel J.|date=2007-12-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2010-05-03|last2=Oestreich|first2=James R.}}</ref> A portrait painting of Schwarz by artist [[Michele Rushworth]] was unveiled and installed at Benaroya Hall in 2011.

==Career==
In 1971 he won the [[Young Concert Artists International Auditions]].

He frequently held multiple positions simultaneously. He was music director of the [[Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra]] from 1978 to 1986.<ref name="Director LA Chamber">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-26-ca-38453-story.html|title=Conductor Gerard Schwarz Returns to Familiar Territory|last1=Henken|first1=John|website=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=28 September 2015|date=January 26, 1988}}</ref>

He served as music director of New York's [[Mostly Mozart|Mostly Mozart Festival]] from 1982 to 2001.<ref name="Director LA Chamber" /> He was the music director of the [[Seattle Symphony]] from 1985 to 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2008171063_zart10schwarz.html|title=Gerard Schwarz to step down from Symphony|date=2008-09-10|access-date=2008-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913144026/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2008171063_zart10schwarz.html|archive-date=September 13, 2008|url-status=dead|publisher=The Seattle Times|df=mdy}}</ref>

From 2001 to 2006, Schwarz was music director of the [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic|Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra]] (RLPO). He served as music director of the [[New York Chamber Symphony]] and music advisor to Tokyo's Orchard Hall in conjunction with the [[Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra|Tokyo Philharmonic]].

In 2007, Schwarz was named music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, having served as its principal conductor since 2005. He expanded the festival's audience to the largest in its history, enhanced education and programming to include a composer in residence and three new concert series and increased collaboration with An Appalachian Summer Festival, where he is artistic partner for symphonic music programming.

===Recordings===
Among the orchestras that Schwarz has led on his other recordings are the [[Czech Philharmonic]], the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]], the [[Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra]], the [[Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin|Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra]], and the [[Orchestre National de France]]. In 2003 he recorded two concertos by [[Philip Glass]]: the Cello Concerto (with [[Julian Lloyd Webber]]) and the Concerto for Two Timpanists (with [[Evelyn Glennie]] and Jonathan Haas with the RLPO).

He recorded all of [[Mahler]]'s symphonies and [[Richard Strauss]]'s [[tone poem]]s with the RLPO.

As a trumpet soloist, Schwarz has recorded the concertos of [[Joseph Haydn]] and [[Johann Nepomuk Hummel]] for Delos.

In 2011, the block around Benaroya Hall was named "Gerard Schwarz Place."

===Discography===
* [[Judith Blegen & Frederica von Stade: Songs, Arias & Duets|''Judith Blegen and Frederica von Stade: Songs, Arias and Duets'', with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Columbia, 1975]]

==Awards==

* [[Ditson Conductor's Award]] for his commitment to the performance of American music. (1989)
* Musical America's Conductor of the Year (1994) He was the first American to win that award
* 14 [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] nominations
* 4 [[Emmy Award|Emmy]] awards (of 5 nominations) for his performance of Mozart's ''Requiem'' on ''Live from Lincoln Center'' and performances with the Seattle Symphony on PBS.<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography from Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Site|url=http://www.milwaukeesymphony.org/purchasetickets/calendar/artist.asp?id=50040074|access-date=2007-10-23 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070425214542/http://www.milwaukeesymphony.org/purchasetickets/calendar/artist.asp?id=50040074 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-04-25}}</ref> <!-- date needed: and he was appointed to the National Council on the Arts by the President. -->
* Seattle City of Music Outstanding Achievement Award (2010).<ref>Seattle Times staff, [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2012950861_cityofmusic22.html Carlile, Schwarz, school jazz bandleaders honored by City of Music Awards] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629050810/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2012950861_cityofmusic22.html |date=June 29, 2011 }}, ''Seattle Times'', 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2010-09-30.</ref>

==Personal life==
Gerard Schwarz married Jody (née Greitzer<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bargreen |first1=Melinda |title=A Life In Tune -- Gerard Schwarz Orchestrates A Life That Blends Family, Fund Raising And Mozart |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19971102&slug=2569760 |website=The Seattle Times |access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref>) in June 1984.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krasnow |first1=Iris |title=Time Out for a Wedding |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/30/TIME-OUT-FOR-A-WEDDING/5608457416000/ |website=United Press International |access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref> He has four children, including cellist [[Julian Schwarz]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.gerardschwarz.com Gerard Schwarz - Home]
* [http://www.americancomposers.org/bios110198.htm Gerard Schwarz biography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071214052807/http://www.seattlesymphony.org/symphony/meet/conductors/schwarz.aspx Most Up To Date Biography retrieved from the Seattle Symphony Website]

{{LACO music directors}}
{{Seattle Symphony conductors}}
{{RLPO conductors}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Gerard}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male conductors (music)]]
[[Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni]]
[[Category:Juilliard School alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish American classical musicians]]
[[Category:People from Weehawken, New Jersey]]
[[Category:20th-century American conductors (music)]]
[[Category:21st-century American conductors (music)]]
[[Category:Classical musicians from New Jersey]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:American classical trumpeters]]
[[Category:American male classical musicians]]
[[Category:American male trumpeters]]
[[Category:Players of the New York Philharmonic]]
[[Category:Principal conductors of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic]]
[[Category:Music directors of the Seattle Symphony]]