Stewart Kershaw was born in England and began his musical life as a chorister at Chichester Cathedral. After studies at London's Royal Academy of Music and the Conservatoire Nationale in Paris, he was engaged by the Royal Ballet and, in subsequent years, held permanent posts at the Paris and Lyon Opera Houses in France, as well as the Munich and Stuttgart Opera Houses in Germany. In Japan, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Kyoto Symphony and led the Japan Philharmonic in a series of concerts.

Since 1980, Mr. Kershaw has lived in the United States. Mr. Kershaw was music director for the Evansville Philharmonic (Indiana) for nine seasons and, as music director, has conducted the Pacific Northwest Ballet since 1983.

In a long and successful career, Mr. Kershaw has conducted some 75 orchestras in 20 different countries including Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa, and South America. In 1989, he was made a Fellow of London's Royal Academy of Music in recognition of his conducting throughout the world.

It is the dream of every conductor to create an orchestra. Often it takes years - even generations - for an orchestra to grow from a community/amateur group to a widely acclaimed professional ensemble.

I count myself exceptionally lucky that the City of Auburn decided in 1996 to enter the music world at the top end by deciding that the Auburn Symphony Orchestra would consist of the best possible professional musicians available in the Pacific Northwest.  Within the first year, the Seattle P-I described our orchestra as the finest in the area after the Seattle Symphony.

As Auburn grows and evolves, so too does its civic and cultural pride, and the Auburn Symphony will also continue to grow in artistic excellence as it seeks to provide the greatest classical music for all residents of South King County.