A native New Yorker, David Stern is a born communicator.  Whether conducting a major symphony orchestra, a baroque opera, teaching vocal master classes, or defending cultural activities, Stern rivets his musicians, students and audiences by sharing his strong musical convictions, his flexibility of approach and his belief that music is of essence and relevance in today's world.  As music director of the Israel Opera and founder/director of the Paris-based opera studio and period-instrument ensemble, Opera Fuoco, he not only is a performer but a musical figure-head in each of these communities. 

David Stern is a frequent guest with orchestras around the globe.  This years new engagements are with the Vienna Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and  the Haydn Di Bolzano et Trento Orchestra .  He is a regular guest with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and with the Bayrische Kammmerphilharmonie,  the Ulster Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony and Guangzhou Philharmonic Orchestras amongst others.

With Opera Fuoco, Stern recently recorded and toured a fully-staged production of Johann Christian Bach's opera, Zanaida, which he premiered at the 2011 Bachfest in Leipzig.  His recording of this work on ZigZag/Outhere Label received a ‘CHOC’ award from the French magazine Classica;  David and Opera Fuoco record exclusively for this label, and will soon issue a new recording of French romantic Cantatas with Karine Deshayes. In 2014, Stern brings a newly commissioned work to the Theatre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, a prequel to Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutte." Opera Fuoco's "Cosi Fanciulli" is an opera for audiences young and old, with music written for period instruments by French composer, Nicolas Bacri, text by author Eric Emmanuel Schmitt and a staging by Jean-Yves Ruf.

Working with young singers and developing audience sensitivity are essentials for David Stern. With Opera Fuoco, Stern shares the desire to work closely and intensely with a small group of selected singers in with expert artists such as Barbara Bonney and Paul Agnew. These regular musical "encounters," exploring different repertoires and ending with a public performance, are now part of a new partnership with the Mona Bismarck American Center in Paris. 

Choosing important and daring repertoire, whether old or new is one of Stern's mantras.  With the Israel Opera, he favors contemporary Israeli works to offset the mainstream repertoire of the house; his pre and post-performance talks are hugely popular as he brings musical, cultural, historical and comical insight to the score.  "The Child Dreams" by Israeli composer, Gilad Shochat, and "Tosca" were showcased in Germany's Wiesbaden Festiva in 2012. 

Stern's conviction that every effort must be made to reach out to today's audiences is a continuing leitmotif. In opera, maximizing the coherence between staging and music is a priority. His dedication to the vocal and orchestral preparation of every production is a personal commitment. Among his collaborators have been directors Yoshi Oida and Stephane Braunschweig at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, David Alden and Jakob Peters-Messer in St. Gallen and Tel Aviv, and with Omri Nitzan of Israel's Cameri Theater.

Having received his BA from Yale and his MM from Juilliard, summers take Stern back to the US, where he has conducted at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival and is returning to the Crested Butte Festival with Rossini's Barber of Seville this coming summer.