Bennington Alumni Take Home Two of Three American Prizes
The winners of the 2025 American Prizes in Orchestral Programming have been announced, with Bennington alumni Stephen Michael Smith '72 and Brian Stone '92 claiming two of the three awards.
Stephen Michael Smith '72 is the winner of The American Prize 2025 in Orchestral Programming (the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award) in the community division for his work with The Orchestra at Shelter Rock. This award is given to recognize excellence in the presentation of creative programming of the orchestral music repertoire.
Stephen Michael Smith is Music Director of The Orchestra at Shelter Rock in Manhasset, NY and is in his 20th season as Music Director of the Danbury Community Orchestra. He recently completed a 14 year tenure with the Symphonic Pops Orchestra of Long Island as its Music Director. Maestro Smith was chosen twice to participate in the International Northern Baltic Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. During his tenures as Music Director/Conductor of the Shrewsbury Chorale and the Dalton Alumni Chorale, he prepared both institutions for their Carnegie Hall debuts with New York Grand Opera. Mr. Smith has taught at the University of Hawaii, Hartwick College, and the American Academy of Music. He previously held the positions of Executive Director of the San Francisco Opera Guild, Development Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Interim Director of the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera.
Conductor Brian Stone '92 of Westside Chamber Orchestra in Santa Monica, CA, is the winner of The American Prize 2025 in Orchestral Programming (the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award) in the professional division.
Prize-winning conductor and award-winning teacher Brian Stone has worked both in the opera pit and on the concert stage with professional orchestras in ten different states and three countries, as well as students at eight colleges, and the All-State Honor Orchestras of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Southern California, to both public and institutional acclaim. As a young conductor, Brian was chosen to conduct in the League of American Orchestras’ Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview with the Utah Symphony, The Festival at Sandpoint’s Young Conductor Showcase with the Spokane Symphony. In 2008 he received the prestigious Jessie B. DuPont Award in Music Education. Stone is a graduate of Bennington College in Vermont and holds a Master of Music degree and a Doctorate in conducting from the Peabody Conservatory. He is the Music Director of the Westside Chamber Orchestra and the Santa Clarita Symphony in California.
The American Prize—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming honors the memory of the great Lithuanian conductor, Maestro Vytautas Marijosius, music director of the Lithuanian State Opera, and for nearly thirty-five years Director of Orchestral Activities at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford. The Prize recognizes and rewards the best achievement in the unique field of orchestral programming, where the selection of repertoire by knowledgeable, creative and courageous music directors builds orchestras and audiences, educates young people and adults, and enriches the community.
Image: Stephen Michael Smith (R) and Brian Stone (L)