Conductor Michael Stern — Music Director of Orchestra Lumos (formerly the Stamford Symphony) and the National Repertory Orchestra (NRO) — is known for building and leading orchestras that equally prioritize impeccable musicianship, creative programming, and service to their communities. He is just as passionate about working with young musicians, shaping them into artists and advocates who will take classical music into the 21st century and beyond.

Orchestra Lumos’s 2025-2026 season celebrates the 250th anniversary of America’s independence with programs of American classics and new works to mark the occasion.  Michael Stern conducts four programs that include music by Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, Joplin, Wynton Marsalis, and the world premiere of a new Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra by Baltimore-based composer Jonathan Leshnoff. The season finale, “America 250,” also includes the world premiere of Five American Portraits, an Orchestra Lumos commission. 

Summer 2025 marks Michael Stern’s fifth season as Music Director of the NRO, which for over 60 years has provided an intensive fellowship program for aspiring young musicians who have gone on to populate every major orchestra across the United States. The 2025 festival’s theme, “Discover the NRO,” explores different elements of what makes the organization and its home of Breckenridge, CO, so special.  Between June 21 and August 9, Stern conducts eight programs of music by Barber, Beethoven, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Arturo Márquez, Roberto Sierra, Carlos Simon, and many others.

Season Highlights

July 26, 2025
NATIONAL REPERTORY ORCHESTRA: DISCOVER…JUBILATION
Iris Wu, Violin | David Caplan, Cello
CARLOS SIMON: Four Black American Dances
STRAVINSKY: Pulcinella Suite
ARTURO MÁRQUEZ: Conga del Fuego Nuevo
More information at National Repertory Orchestra

August 2, 2025
NATIONAL REPERTORY ORCHESTRA: DISCOVER…JOY
Helen Freeman, Flute | Peter Davies, Oboe | Jenna Zelasko, Trumpet
ROBERTO SIERRA: Alegría
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1, “Classical”
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 “Apotheosis of Dance”
More information at National Repertory Orchestra

August 6, 2025
NATIONAL REPERTORY ORCHESTRA: DISCOVER…REJUVENATION
Spencer Stover, Violin
COPLAND: Appalachian Spring
PIAZZOLLA: “Spring” from The Four Seasons in Buenos Aires (arranged by Desyatnikov)
VIVALDI: “Spring” from The Four Seasons
SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 1, “Spring”
More information at National Repertory Orchestra

August 9, 2025
NATIONAL REPERTORY ORCHESTRA FINALE: DISCOVER…AWE
Winner(s) of the NRO Concerto Competition
MOZART: Symphony No. 39
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Ravel)
More information at National Repertory Orchestra

October 4 & 5, 2025
ORCHESTRA LUMOS: WYNTON AND ALL THAT JAZZ
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Violin
WYNTON MARSALIS: Violin Concerto
JERRY BOCK: Fiddler Rhapsody and Scherzo from Fiddler on the Roof, arranged by Oran Eldor
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No.2
More information at Orchestra Lumos

November 15 & 16, 2025
ORCHESTRA LUMOS: RHAPSODY
Joyce Yang, Piano
DVOŘÁK Carnival Overture
RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
JONATHAN LESHNOFF Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra - World Premiere
More information at Orchestra Lumos

March 7 & 8, 2026
ORCHESTRA LUMOS: AMERICAN GEMS
Juan Esteban Martinez, Clarinet
BACH: Air on the G String
STRAVINSKY: Dumbarton Oaks
ARTHUR FOOTE: Air and Gavotte
COPLAND: Clarinet Concerto
JOPLIN: The Entertainer
More information at Orchestra Lumos

April 18 & 19, 2026
ORCHESTRA LUMOS: AMERICA 250
Joshua Mhoon, Piano
BERNSTEIN: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
Five American Portraits - Orchestra Lumos Commission / World Premiere
COPLAND: Appalachian Spring
GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue
More information at Orchestra Lumos