​University of Miami Commencement Speech and President’s Medal
​

December 17, 2021 – Today, Maestro Schwarz had the great honor of speaking at one of the University of Miami’s graduation ceremonies. He also received the President’s Medal. His address was about mountains that we all climb in our lives and his thinking about what contributes to success in life, personal and professional.

“This is the beginning of your new mountain to climb, and these mountains that we climb will last forever. Dream big, trust your aspirations, and follow your individual knowledge to guide you in your future,” said Schwarz, who joined the University’s faculty in 2019 and was honored Friday with a President’s Medal for “a lifetime of bringing extraordinary music to the world.”

Read more about the speech here.

News

Emmy® Awards
​
​

November 1, 2021 – This weekend the multi-Emmy® Award-winning All-Star Orchestra, led by Maestro Schwarz, received its 8th and 9th awards at the 64th Annual New York Emmy® Awards Ceremony of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. “From Italy and Hungary with Love,” a program featuring Mendelssohn’s beloved “Italian” Symphony No. 4, and Kodaly’s orchestral showpiece, Dances of Galanta, was awarded in the category: Special Event - Edited with Gerard Schwarz as Music Director, Habib Azar as Director, Dmitriy Lipay and Sascha Lipay as Audio Producers, and Andrew Mayatskiy as Editor. Co-Producers are Gerard Schwarz and Paul Schwendener. The program is part of the acclaimed classical music series featuring top musicians from across the country performing major symphonic masterpieces and works from leading contemporary American composers. The series has been broadcast nationwide on public television since September 2013, and has won Emmy® awards in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. National broadcasts of Season Five began in July, 2020, in partnership with WNET/Thirteen, American Public Television, and Oregon Public Broadcasting. Learn more here.

New Album Available!

​​

July 1, 2021 – In this new release by Master Performers, Maestro Schwarz leads the New York Chamber Symphony (Y Chamber Symphony) in Schubert’s grand final completed symphony – his ninth. In a never-before-released recording, Schwarz observes all repeats that Schubert indicated, believing the composer’s markings should be respected and the audience’s perception of a work changes with repetition.

Jed Distler praises the album on ClassicsToday saying "...the expression 'better late than never' easily applies to the performance in hand. Schwarz’s smaller forces still convey a wide dynamic range, with vivid details aplenty from the winds and brass. Well worth hearing."

Whole Note comments, "Great playing and first-class recording quality." 

YourClassical says, "Overall, the recording is a piece of history, not only for Schwarz and the New York Chamber Orchestra but for classical music enthusiasts who enjoy historically accurate performances."

Purchase the disc on Amazon or stream on Spotify and other streaming services.


In the Media

TV

CBS 12 News
Sounds of the Season

December 23-31, 2021 — The Palm Beach Symphony returns to CBS 12 News and CW34-WTVX for the second consecutive year with a holiday-themed “Sounds of the Season.”

The concert features music from “The Nutcracker,” as well as carols and seasonal favorites. The Symphony also performs Maestro Schwarz's arrangement of Handel’s “Concerto for Brass Quintet,” Movements 2 and 4 and several selections from Handel’s “Messiah” joined by guest artists Virginia Mims and Kim Josephson.

​Audiences can watch on their local TV, stream on their phone/tablet/computer/SmartTV, via the STIRR app, or on-demand at cbs12.com. Learn more here.

In Print

Gramophone
Cover Story

February 2021 — Maestro Schwarz follows up his cover article in Gramophone's July 2019 issue (Forgotten symphonies: the hidden giants of American music) with The European Giants of American Music in Gramophone's February 2021 issue.

"For the July 2019 issue of Gramophone, I wrote about some of my favourite neglected American works from the middle of the 20th century and was so happy to receive many comments and ideas of other works and composers to include. Most were certainly worthy and I was excited to see such a lively discussion. Now I am endeavouring to tackle what is, in some ways, a more difficult article – about composers from the same time period who emigrated to the United States during the first half of that century. Many of those emigrants came to the US to escape the Nazis in the 1930s and '40s..."

Subscribe to Gramophone to read the full article.

In Print & Podcast​

National Review
A Maestro Ambassador

"Gerard Schwarz is an exemplary musician. He was a hotshot trumpeter — one of the best in the world. Then he became a leading conductor. For many years, he led the Seattle Symphony, and also the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. He has led other institutions too. Now he is going to the Palm Beach Symphony. I joke that this is a 'hardship post.'

In addition to being a superb player and conductor, he is an outstanding — really good — talker about music, and teacher of music. There is more than a little Bernstein in him. (He knew the late maestro and played under him in the New York Philharmonic.)" Read more here.