Maestro Schwarz’s All-Star Orchestra is comprised of top players from some of the country’s greatest orchestra’s including New York (the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Houston, Minnesota, Nashville, New Jersey, Oregon, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, St Louis, Utah, Washington D.C., and more. Together these musicians perform on one stage under the leadership of Maestro Schwarz, former Music Director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, who led the Seattle Symphony for 26 years and now serves as its Conductor Laureate. He is currently Music Director of the Eastern Music Festival, the Palm Beach Symphony, and is Distinguished Professor of Conducting at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He recently published an acclaimed memoir, Behind the Baton.

The All-Star Orchestra television series is seen nationally on public broadcasting stations. The series won the 2013 ASCAP Deems Taylor Broadcasting Award and seven Emmy® Awards in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The innovative programs are designed to appeal to classical music neophytes and connoisseurs alike.  The one-hour programs present  dynamic  performances – recorded  in  HD – prefaced  with lively  commentary  and storytelling by  Mr. Schwarz, the composers, and musical experts. The TV programs entertain, educate and encourage greater understanding of classical music as a living tradition that spans and unites generations.

Recent highlights include the spectacular “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky, the beloved “Romeo and Juliet” by Prokofiev, the beautiful “Enigma Variations” by Sir Edward Elgar, “Mysterious Mountain” by the American mystic Alan Hovhaness, and the world-premiere recording of “Jubilee Variations” featuring music by eleven leading 20th century American composers. Complete programs can be viewed at www.allstarorchestra.org/episodes.

Programs from Seasons 1-4 have been released on DVD by Naxos of America and are available from Amazon and other retailers.

Since 2014, the All-Star Orchestra has partnered with the Khan Academy, the world’s leading free educational website that has more than 25 million monthly users on average. A great many lessons and features are offered in the following categories: Music Basics, Instruments of the Orchestra and Band, Masterpieces Old and New. To date, the All-Star Orchestra educational content on the Khan Academy website has reached over 6 million students worldwide.