Snow Pond Symphony 2016 Season

About the Artists
Leon Gregorian,
Distinguished
Professor of
Music Emeritus
was Director of
Orchestras and
Head of the Graduate
Orchestral
Conducting Program
at the Michigan State University
College of Music. He holds degrees
from the New England Conservatory
and Michigan State University. At the
personal invitation of Charles Munch,
music director of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra, he studied conducting
with celebrated maestros Munch,
Richard Burgin, and Erich Leinsdorf
at the Tanglewood Music Center for
two successive summers.
From 1971-1986, Gregorian was
music director and conductor of the
Owensboro Symphony Orchestra in
Kentucky. His work gained national
recognition, and he served on several
national and international boards as
evaluator of programs and conductors
for the Ford Foundation and American
Symphony Orchestra League. In 1984,
he joined the Michigan State University
music faculty. Under his leadership
the Michigan State University Symphony
and Chamber Orchestras performed
in prestigious venues across the United
States and abroad to critical acclaim.
His conducting students can be found
across the world in prominent conducting
positions. From 1987-1996, he also
served as the conductor of the Midland
Symphony Orchestra.
Gregorian has received many
awards and honors throughout his career.
Michigan State University awarded
him the Teacher-Scholar Award, the
Apollo Award, and the Distinguished
Faculty Award, honorary awards from
the State Houses in Massachusetts,
Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan.
Gregorian has guest conducted
leading orchestras in Venezuela,
Mexico, South Korea, Italy, Rumania,
Armenia, Russia, Brazil, Argentina,
Czech Republic, Australia, and the
People’s Republic of China, as well as
many orchestras in the United States,
including the Boston Symphony, Boston
Pops, and the Esplanade Orchestra.
He has recorded for PBS, Koch International
Classics, Crystal, and Arizona
University Records. A three-volume, 10
CD set, “Teaching Music Through Performances
in Orchestra,” was recorded
by Gregorian for GIA Publications in
Chicago for worldwide distribution.
Gregorian and the Michigan State
University Chamber Orchestra participated
in the worldwide celebration
of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 250th
birth anniversary, with four concerts in
Salzburg and Vienna to critical acclaim.
In 2012 Leon Gregorian retired
from Michigan State University after
28 years of distinguished service. He
continues to guest conduct orchestras
and present master classes in conducting
throughout the world. Since 1985
Gregorian and his wife Linda, violinist
and violist have been facuty members
at NEMC. Their children Ara, Ani and
Alicia, all professional musicians, were
campers at NEMC. The Gregorians
now have six grandchildren. The two
oldest twin boys are now campers at
NEMC.
Clarinetist Jo-
Ann Sternberg
leads a diverse
musical life in the
New York area as
a chamber musician,
orchestral
player, music
educator, and interpreter
of new
music. A member of Sequitur, the Saratoga
Chamber Players, Wind Soloists
of New York, the Richardson Chamber
Players and the Riverside Symphony,
she also regularly performs and tours
with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the
American Composers Orchestra, Mark
Morris Dance, the American Symphony,
the Knights, the Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center, and Musicians
from Marlboro, and can often be
24
heard playing in a number of different
Broadway musicals. Following her
undergraduate years in the combined
Tufts University/New England Conservatory
dual degree program where
she was mentored by Peter Hadcock,
Ms. Sternberg continued her studies at
Yale University with David Shifrin and
at The Juilliard School with Charles
Neidich.
Currently, Ms. Sternberg serves
on the faculty of the Music Performance
Program of Princeton University,
the Music Advancement Program at
the Juilliard School, and maintains an
active teaching studio from her New
York City home. Additionally, she
serves as an advisor for New England
Conservatory’s Entrepreneurial Musicianship
Program and coaches chamber
ensembles for the New York Youth
Symphony. In the summer months,
Ms. Sternberg lives in Maine where she
is the founder and artistic director of
The Maine Chamber Music Seminar,
teaches and performs at the Chamber
Music Conference & Composers’
Forum of the East at Bennington
College, and participates in numerous
performance residences throughout
greater New England. Previous summers
have seen her performing at the
Portland Chamber Music Festival,
Salt Bay Chamber Fest, Mount Desert
Chamber Music Festival, Sebago/
Long Lake Festival, Bowdoin Summer
Music Festival, Marlboro, Norfolk,
North Country Chamber Players, and
Ravinia. From September through
May, Ms. Sternberg resides in Manhattan
with her husband and children.