Press

“We received such a favorable response from our musicians and from the community when Jerry was here,” said Sheryl Towers, CEO of the MSO. “We are very fortunate that he will bring his extraordinary creativity and passion to the orchestra as we prepare for our 40^th Season.”

Café Carlyle doesn’t immediately come to mind as a venue for Jenkins’ voice, but it works. It helps soften her and her personality is quite endearing. The patter and playful banter director Steichen made the setting feel like being in their living room. She reminisced about being a new mom and the pain of her father’s death when she was fifteen, singing “O Sole Mio” as a touching tribute to him.

A few minutes before showtime, the evening’s accompanist, Jerry Steichen, took his seat at the piano and immediately struck up a conversation, no doubt intended to relax us both. “Let me know if either of you want to come up here and take a turn,” he said with a devilish laugh.

The excellent Music Director Jerry Steichen not only shone in his playing of the reduced score, but also narrated the omitted parts of the story from the piano. He is an engaging presence.

Gerald Steichen conducts the 17-piece pit band with the perfect idiomatic period touch.

Music makes the season, and supporters and sponsors of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra made the season especially bright last weekend when Music Director & Conductor Gerald L. Steichen and friends delighted shoppers at Deborah Ann’s Sweet Shoppe with live music ringing throughout the candy store and ice cream parlor!

On Saturday, December 5, the uplifting sounds of the season were ringing throughout Ridgefield when Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra  Music Director & Conductor Jerry Steichen and friends brought their instruments to Deborah Ann’s Sweet Shoppe on Main Street during the annual Holiday Stroll.

“The score is very pleasant without having many really memorable numbers, but it is conducted with a passion by Gerald Steichen. Well worth the hearing, especially for local theatre groups looking for something out of the ordinary to perform.”

“Steichen and his musicians did full justice to the music’s colorful combination of energetic rhythmical cadences and beguilingly orient-flavored lyricism, with particular kudos for percussion, solo woodwind voices, and brass.”

Follow the “Read Article” link to see the 2015 Phoenicia Festival of the Voice Wrap-Up, and see a cameo of Gerald Steichen.

Light Opera of New York’s recording of Victor Herbert’s 1914 comic operetta, The Only Girl, with Gerald Steichen conducting, is released on Albany Records.

“Thank you for an outstanding concert at Deer Valley last night.  We were so proud of the orchestra–OUR Utah Symphony!  You played with precision and heart.  The soloists added so much to our enjoyment of the 4th of July.  Patriotism was indeed increased and enjoyed by the thousands in attendance.  God Bless America…..God Bless the USA… And God Bless Our Utah Symphony!”

“This is going to be so much fun,” Steichen told The Park Record during a telephone call from Longview, Texas. “I got together and rehearsed with Gary Mauer and Elizabeth Southard last week. They are the two vocalists who will perform the program at Deer Valley and they are just so wonderful.”

More than any other concert I’ve attended in the many years I’ve reviewed the organization’s programs, last Saturday evening’s sold-out blockbuster final concert at the high school auditorium of the Ridgefield Symphony’s 50th Anniversary season was a telling reminder of how both amazed and grateful our town’s residents ought to be to have their own Miracle on Main Street.

Unlike show and pop music, which can be enjoyed by anyone at all, including listeners with no musical knowledge whatsoever, art music, which is usually incorrectly dubbed “classical” music, is a bit like a spoken language, which can sound either pretty or harsh to the ear but can be fully appreciated and enjoyed only by those who are familiar enough with it to know what is being said. No mystery, therefore, that in a society where school music and other “arts” programs have been curtailed or entirely eliminated to provide more money in support of “practical” subjects like math and science, art music has declined in popularity to the point where even in the New York Metropolitan Area there are only two radio stations, both of them listener supported, where one can go to hear it.

Reviews of musical performances have suffered similarly. Important to both performers and musical organizations because they are thankfully still regular features in world-class papers like The New York Times, but the newsroom editors of small local papers tend to label them as “fluff”, with no space available for them in publications whose space is essentially limited to social, political, sports and schools pieces, announcements of upcoming local events, and commercial and classified ads.

Hence the specialness of Ridgefield’s Symphonic Miracle, which is real evidence that our town actually has a sizeable community of both practically and culturally educated music lovers.

Sponsored by Harold Spratt in memory of his late wife Cora, Maestro Gerald Steichen’s ambitious program included Franz Schubert’s Rosamunde Ballet Music and Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony, for which Steichen was joined by a wonderful quartet of vocal artists (soprano Theresa Santiago, mezzo-soprano Melissa Parks, tenor A.J. Glueckert, and baritone Ron Loyd), along with the Fairfield County Chorale under its music director David Rosenmeyer.

The orchestra played the Schubert ballet music both flawlessly and gracefully under Steichen’s skillful interpretative management of nuances and phrasing, and, with only a slight decline in precision in the slow third movement, the performance of the Beethoven’s glorious Ninth Symphony, a doubly wondrous work in view of the fact that Beethoven conceived it entirely in his mind after he had become totally deaf, was a triumph. The Fairfield County Chorale performed flawlessly, and the superb guest quartet handled Beethoven’s difficult score, conceived in Beethoven’s imagination more as an instrumental than a vocal quartet, with virtuosic ease. Vocal highlights included baritone Ron Loyd’s dramatic declamatory introduction of the final movement’s choral section and A.J. Glueckert’s beautiful delivery of the movement’s long tenor solo.

The very long standing ovation, replete with rousing applause, loud cheers, and whistles, suggested that those in attendance are likely to subscribe or re-subscribe for the RSO’s just- announced 2015-2016 season, which promises exceptionally fine programming of proven masterpieces. Those of you who weren’t present should do likewise in support of our town’s musical treasure.

The sumptuous orchestra, conducted by Gerald Steichen…

Conductor Gerald Steichen’s tasteful work in the pit contributed to the overall polish of this Widow.

“The orchestra, conducted by Gerald Steichen, nicely executed the several long, atmospheric instrumental sections that set the mood in the work.”

“Just as big changes are coming for ABC-TV’s “Dancing With the Stars,” with sports reporter Erin Andrews in as the new sidekick to Tom Bergeron, Ridgefield’s own beloved “Dancing” event is bringing major changes to its fifth and final season.”

“Mitchell shared the stage with his frequent partner, pianist Tedd Firth, and a concert by the two is a rare treat. But when they are joined by the Utah Symphony, the performance becomes exhilarating.”

The Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra and Danbury Hospital were recognized for our collaborative CD of Lullabies from around the world, “Sweet Dreams”.  Created for patients in the Spratt Neo-Natal ICU of Danbury Hospital, the CD features members of the RSO, and guest stars from the worlds of opera and musical theater who donated their talents for this incredible project.

“With its varied but complementary styles, Music Director Gerald Steichen’s fine program included Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta, Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, and Beethoven’s great Symphony No. 7. Violinist Jennifer Frautschi was Maestro Steichen’s splendid guest soloist.”

“The Utah Symphony and conductor Jerry Steichen seemed to be having a blast as they skillfully navigated from pop to country to classical to Latin.”

“Steichen, always a delightful presence when holding a baton for the Utah Symphony, gamely joined Vroman singing “I’d Rather Charleston” — even daring a few dance steps himself. In his charming, conversational manner, he also gave a few helpful notes between pieces to help newcomers to the music understand Gershwin’s epic role in popular music.” “The orchestra had rhythm in spades, playing a fun night of music by George Gershwin, the king of the Great American Songbook.”

“The more successful moments of the evening came during the slower and softer numbers, such as “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” and “New York State of Mind,” where the orchestra’s string section warmly caressed the songs without overshadowing them. It was also a showcase for the orchestra’s horn section, which often doesn’t get to shine during masterworks.”

“The Utah Symphony fit nicely into the thick of the action, making songs like the fiery “Yolanda?” sound like Pink Martini on steroids. Conductor Jerry Steichen kept the partnership together and in balance.”

“The Utah Symphony, under conductor Jerry Steichen’s baton, rose to the occasion. Adding an exuberant saxophone section helped the brass section really shine on the big-band standards, and the swelling strings were reminiscent of sweet tunes you listen to on a crackling turntable. Steichen has performed with Lippia before, and it showed.”

“Steichen seemed like the perfect bridge between the Cirque and symphony. He formed a strong rapport with the audience, not only through his dynamic personality, but also his energetic interpretations of the music… It was easy to watch him and watch the performers in this delightful performance.”

“Principal pops conductor Jerry Steichen conducted, and he elicited wonderfully expressive playing from the orchestra that complemented Selberg’s romantically charged approach.”