Music Director of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Tony Award-winning orchestrator and music supervisor of the Broadway musical Movin' Out, conductor and pianist Stuart Malina answers 10 questions in a casual Q&A interview.
1. You’ve been in Harrisburg serving the symphony for over fifteen years now, what are your top 3 favorite things about the area?
• The Harrisburg Symphony • The fall foliage • The people here
2. Where in the Harrisburg area do you reside?
The Estates of Forest Hills (off Linglestown Road)
3. When you go back to visit your hometown of New York City, what stops and eats are on your to do list?
• My mom and dad's home • A Broadway show, if possible • Any number of great restaurants 4. Best Broadway show in your opinion? • Movin' Out (what else?!) • West Side Story 5. Favorite movie? • The Godfather 1 & 2 • The Producers (the original, not the terrible remake)
6. Favorite book?
Too many to choose from!
7. Tell us about your family:
Wife, Marty, of 17 years. Daughter, Sara, 15 (sophomore at Central Dauphin High School). Son, Zev, 13 (8th grader at Londonderry School). Older sister, Rachel (pediatrician in San Francisco). Younger brother, Joel (vice president at Cornell University). Two wonderful parents (still living in Scarsdale, New York).
8. What’s your favorite music to listen to?
I like big band swing, particularly with the great vocalists of the 50s (Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis, Jr.). Favorite performer: Elvis Costello.
9. What accomplishment are you most proud of in your career?
That I've made a good living as a musician while maintaining a happy, full family life.
10. What are you most looking forward to about the Harrisburg Symphony’s 2016-17 season?
Every concert! They're all wonderful.
85 Years of Music
Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra presents inspiring symphonic performances and educational programs for audiences of all ages, fostering an appreciation for and knowledge of music to enrich the cultural life of Central Pennsylvania.
Now in its 85th season, the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1930 with a subscription costing just two dollars. The organization now touches the lives of tens of thousands of people each year.
One of the oldest youth symphonies in the country, The Youth Symphony was formed in 1950 to serve as a training orchestra for the parent organization. Its membership of approximately 85 musicians represents the finest from public, private and home-school institutions in the Central Pennsylvania area. About one-third of HSYO graduates continue as music majors at the college and conservatory level, and many continue to play in college and community orchestras. Presently, Harrisburg Symphony Youth Orchestra graduates are performing in the Harrisburg, Dallas, Chicago, Houston Opera and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras, and in regional orchestras throughout the United States.
Five Masterworks concerts remain throughout the season from January through May. The series highlights the classical sounds of the symphony like Beethoven, Gershwin, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Dvorak, Holst and many others. Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra Masterworks concerts are performed at the Forum Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. May 13 the symphony presents Link Up: The Orchestra Rocks, a special youth concert at 10 a.m. Tickets and info at www.harrisburgsymphony.org
