New York born conductor, Stephen Somary has devoted a large portion of his time over the past twenty years to The Mendelssohn Project, (‘TMP’) an organization he founded both in New York and in Germany, and of which he is artistic director. TMP has carefully researched the vast amount of unpublished music, letters, and artworks by Mendelssohn and educates the public about, and introduces the world to, these lost masterpieces. When Somary began his Mendelssohn journey in 1997, much of the music world was in the dark surrounding the true magnitude of Mendelssohn’s output, and his import to his generation.

The Mendelssohn Project and Stephen Somary have presented many live concerts featuring the music of Felix Mendelssohn, including world premieres, U.S.A. premieres, other rarely heard works, along with beloved favorites. Additional concerts have presented world premiere performances of modern composers – as Mendelssohn often did himself. as well as music by established composers in lesser-known versions. A recent example of the latter is a brand new video release produced by TMP, conducted by Stephen Somary, of the Mozart Requiem, with Franz Beyer’s translucent orchestration. This beautiful performance can be watched here.

Maestro Somary has also teamed up with the Chicago-based WFMT Radio Network several times for broadcasts featuring The Mendelssohn Project, with world premiere performances of music written by the 19th Century master. Somary wrote and hosted the most recent show, a two-hour overview of the stunning Mendelssohn story, which can be listened to here.

Stephen Somary has also made numerous guest appearances with leading orchestras of the world since the early 1990s, including the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic, and the Thüringen Philharmonic. Recently, he completed a three-year term as music director of Amor Artis, an elite chorus and chamber orchestra in New York City, and conducted more than 80 works ranging from the Renaissance through every era up to our own time, with special focus placed on the music of Bach and Mendelssohn. During his tenure, he tripled Amor Artis’ annual budget, doubled their audience attendance, and modernized and fully reorganized the organization’s administrative structure. Many of their performances can be heard here.

An acclaimed interpreter of American repertoire, Stephen Somary’s discography includes a recording on the Claves Records label with the Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra of Ives's Symphony No. 2, Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and the world premiere recording of Cowell’s Symphonic Set. Le Monde de la Musique describes this recording as: "A vitally important disc . . . The Ives proves a worthy comparison to the three leading versions – two by Bernstein and one by Tilson-Thomas." Somary has also made three recordings of the music of the American composer David Chesky with the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg-Berlin and the Slovak Philharmonic: "Excellent playing and recording" (Gramophone), "Well played and beautifully recorded" (Billboard).

Another CD for Claves Records with the Thüringen Philharmonic features Elgar's Symphony No. 1: " . . . a gifted American, Stephen Somary . . . paces the entire work in a manner which marks him as both a born conductor and a serious, dedicated musician . . . I should not be surprised if his future career establishes him as one of the most admired conductors of his generation." (Musical Opinion, London).

Stephen Somary's early career was shaped by studies with Henry Bloch, Eiji Oue at Boston University, Norman Del Mar at the Royal College of Music, London, and especially with Leonard Bernstein, for whom he also served as music assistant from 1984 until 1990 and as composition assistant for Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles and the revisions of Songfest.