Eric Kujawsky is the founder and Music Director of Redwood Symphony.
Dr. Kujawsky has developed a very clear physical style that achieves a balance of clarity and expressiveness that is pleasing to the eye. As an interpreter, he fully immerses himself and aims fo/r the strongest possible emotional response from the listener. He values creativity and originality when approaching even the most well-known works. A conductor of far-ranging abilities, Dr. Kujawsky has garnered acclaim for interpretations of works from every stylistic period and genre, with a special affinity for works of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has conducted all of the Mahler symphonies, and has presented many Bay Area and West Coast premieres, including works by Bernstein, Danny Elfman and Elvis Costello.
Biography
Eric Kujawsky, Redwood Symphony founder and Music Director, is recognized as one of the foremost conductors in the Bay Area. A conducting graduate of UCLA, Eric established Redwood Symphony in 1985 after receiving his doctorate in conducting from Stanford University. His teachers include Samuel Krachmalnick, Paul Vermel, and Andor Toth. Dr. Kujawsky performed with the Palo Alto Philharmonic, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Diablo Symphony, Saratoga Symphony, Aspen Music Festival, TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, Masterworks Chorale, Schola Cantorum Silicon Valley and orchestras and choruses throughout the West.
At home with symphony, opera and musical comedy, Dr. Kujawsky served as music director for Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Follies and A Little Night Music. He also conducted My Fair Lady, Kiss Me Kate, and Cabaret. He won both the Bay Area Theater Critics’ Circle Award and the Hollywood Dramalogue Award. With Redwood Symphony, he conducted numerous operas, including the world premiere of Kirke Mechem’s opera Pride and Prejudice, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, La Bohème, Carmen, Candide, Porgy and Bess, The Mikado and Don Giovanni.
As a conductor, Dr. Kujawsky demonstrates a clear, expressive and spirited baton technique and he’s known for a willingness to depart creatively from accepted orthodoxies of interpretation and programming.
Maestro Kujawsky conducted most of the standard orchestral repertoire, including all of Mahler’s symphonies and the major works of Stravinsky, Bartók, Sibelius, and Brahms, as well as a large number of contemporary composers, including Mason Bates, John Adams, Corigliano, Glass, Richter and Messiaen. He is a strong advocate and communicator about music; he presents incisive pre-concert lectures and musical demonstrations with commentary. He is also the Director of Music Ministries at Ladera Community Church in Portola Valley. In addition to music, Dr. Kujawsky is devoted to wife and son, Valerie and Aaron Sarfaty and cat Penny. He enjoys travel, books, humor, movies and Balkan folk dancing.