feel
the music

Called "an American master" by critic Paul Griffiths of The New York Times, composer Robert Stern's output spans many decades and embraces a rich and varied collection of vocal and instrumental works.

From his original 2006 version of the oratorio Shofar ("a gorgeous and important work of a masterful composer") to his Ancora una Fantasia ("a felicitous amalgamation of Renaissance madrigal and third stream jazz") to his early prize-winning scores In Memoriam Abraham for string orchestra and Credo for orchestra, Stern's music has received accolades as it has been performed by such distinguished musicians as Gunther Schuller, Joel Krosnick and Gilbert Kalish, Joel Smirnoff, Joan Tower, Ralph Shapey, Lukas Foss, Howard Hanson, Yehudi Wyner, Matt Haimovitz, Gregg Smith Singers and many others. Stern's music has been heard widely in the USA and many venues abroad, including UK, Israel, Japan, China, Korea, Portugal, Denmark, Norway and Argentina.

A particular interest in the Jewish Holocaust weaves its way through Stern's compositions, producing many works related both directly and tangentially to that dark period and its aftermath. Other Jewish musical, historical, cultural and liturgical themes have frequently occupied Stern as well: "Robert Stern is one of the most highly esteemed and important composers of Jewish music in this country."  — Paulina Stark, soprano.

Robert Stern was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1934. He was educated at the University of Rochester, the Eastman School of Music and the University of California at Los Angeles. His teachers have included Louis Mennini, Kent Kennan, Bernard Rogers, Lukas Foss and Howard Hanson. In addition to many composition awards including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music, the American Music Center and ASCAP, Mr. Stern has enjoyed many fellowships at the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo and the Millay Colony for the Arts.

Mr. Stern recently retired from the faculty of Music and Dance at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has served as resident composer at Yale University (Guest of the Sanford Fellowship), Haverford College, and Hampshire College. Stern's works have been recorded on the CRI, Opus One, Advance, Albany, GSS, Spectrum, Centaur, Gasparo, Oxingale and Polygram labels. Stern is represented in the Milken Archive for American Jewish Music by two works: a setting of Adon Olam for women's chorus and piano, and Voices of Terezin for soprano and string orchestra. He is published by G. Schirmer, Transcontinental Music, Rinaldo Press, Accura Music, Vivace Press and Ballerbach Press.