Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 2 - Gala

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 WHEN DID YOU FIRST EMBARK ON YOUR MUSICAL PATH? I asked for piano lessons when I was six, and I played for everything at school and church growing up. By the fourth grade, I was writing a show. I knew I’d do music my entire life, but it just didn’t seem like a reliable career, so I went to Duke University and majored in botany to be a marine biologist. But I’ve never worked a botanical day. I’ve only worked music jobs. HOW DID YOU MOVE FROM PIANO TO CONDUCTING? I was doing summer stock during college, playing the piano in the orchestra and leading from the piano, and it often happens that the person who’s taught everyone the music suddenly has to stand up and conduct. One of the reasons I went to American University and got a graduate degree was to get my conducting skills together — because I could see the moment was going to come. But because I was such a classical-music kid, I really wanted to learn classical conducting technique. So that’s what we did — Beethoven and Mahler, and some Puccini. We did all kinds of stuff, and I value those lessons tremendously. The path that unfolded in front of me kept being heavy doses of show business — but I still love playing Beethoven sonatas and Chopin ballades. There are a lot of things about conducting that I enjoy more; it’s about being the facilitator for the musicians and getting the group energy unified, which is a responsibility. It’s not the ability to control other people at all . It’s the ability to feel what they’re bringing and put it together. WHAT DIFFERENCES DO YOU FIND BETWEEN CLASSICAL ENSEMBLES AND MUSICAL THEATER ORCHESTRAS? Broadway bands know they’re going to be doing the show for a long time, so there are certain elements they want to get specific about, because it’s a forever thing. Opera orchestras are more like symphony orchestras in that there’s so much classical training, and you can just use that vocabulary and get speedy results. But if you want something to swing, that can take a longer time for opera and symphony orchestras. Broadway orchestras have to be told to not swing. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST ABOUT THE LYRIC GALA? I loved the Lyric Opera Orchestra very much when we did The Sound of Music [2013/14]. I really enjoyed their commitment to the music, even though it wasn’t Puccini. I’ve found that to be the case in really good orchestras everywhere — like the NY Philharmonic. They will lay into My Fair Lady like it’s their favorite Mahler, and it’s thrilling! They do not look down on it or pooh-pooh it. AND YOU KNOW THESE PERFORMERS WELL? Stokes and I have done a lot of things together. I remember seeing him in that 1991 revival of R ob Fisher’s credits range from solo pianist to musical arranger to sought-after conductor on Broadway and with symphony and opera orchestras. Here he talks about his career trajectory, podium style, and admiration for the stars of this year’s Lyric season opening gala. By Louise Guinther A Baton for All Seasons