The Philharmonic welcomes Guest Conductor MICHAEL STERN to the podium on Saturday evening, April 17 at 8:00 in a con¬cert that features acclaimed young Violinist PHILIPPE QUINT in a performance of the Korngold Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35. The Orchestra will perform the Brahms Academic Festival Overture, op. 80 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36.

Conductor MICHAEL STERN is in his fourth season as Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony. The 2008-09 season was also his first as Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestre National de Lille, France. He is founding Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the IRIS Orchestra (Germantown, Tennessee). Under his direction, the IRIS Orchestra has been unanimously heralded for the brilliance of its playing and its varied programming with special emphasis on American contemporary music.

He has conducted the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Atlanta, Houston, Baltimore, Toronto, Seattle, Montreal and National Symphony Orchestras, among many others. He also appears regularly at the Aspen Music Festival and has served on the faculty of the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. He is the son of legendary violinist Isaac Stern.

From the moment he takes the stage, Violinist PHILIPPE QUINT captivates his audience with his charismatic presence. Mr. Quint was born in St. Petersburg, Russia; his mother, Lora Kvint, is celebrated as one of Russia's most well-known popular composers. Mr. Quint left the former Soviet Union in 1991 and is now an American citizen with a strong commitment to the music of his new country, frequently performing works by William Schuman, Lukas Foss, Leonard Bernstein, Ned Rorem, John Corigliano, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Lera Auerbach.