Stewart Kershaw is an interesting and engaging man, a gifted, passionate artist who happens to conduct classical music.

Beautiful music.

At 68, the internationally recognized conductor continues to command a symphony front and center. Classical music – from Bach to Beethoven, Tchaikovsky to Wagner, Schubert to Mozart – fires his soul and inspires him to greater heights.

“It invades my entire mind and entire body,” said Kershaw, one of the founders and principle forces behind the successful Auburn Symphony Orchestra. “It is who I am, at least what I am.”

For Kershaw, the conductor’s baton is much like a magic wand. When put in motion, it produces wonder and enchantment – a special sound that continues to delight audiences far and wide.

Auburn, population 68,000 is indeed fortunate to have such a world-class conductor on center stage.

Kershaw, as he likes to say, has been “professionally engaged” as a conductor for 43 years, beginning with the Royal Ballet in his native England in 1966.

In a long and successful career, Kershaw has conducted more than 80 orchestras in at least 25 countries.

As is characteristic of a conductor’s vagabond career, Kershaw roamed the world to slake a deep thirst and understanding for classical music. He studied and performed in England, France, Germany, Japan and parts of the United States.

But the whirlwind tour eventually brought him to Seattle, where he found a home and became the music director and conductor for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, a post he has held since 1983.

The Puget Sound also presented Kershaw with an opportunity to create his own “gang” of professional musicians.

He helped plant the seed to place an orchestra in Auburn 13 years ago. Kershaw and Josie Emmons Turner, then cultural programs manager for the City of Auburn, sketched the idea on a cocktail napkin.

Kershaw and Turner shared the dream.

With support of others in the arts and civic communities, the Auburn Symphony Orchestra soon took shape, and Kershaw became its face.

“I’m very happy here,” said Kershaw, who maintains a home in Lake Forest Park while following a busy itinerary with his music. “I have wonderful friends. Particularly what keeps me here is that I have such a wonderful orchestra.”

The orchestra today is 65 strong, comprised of some of the best musicians in the area.

ASO – a nonprofit corporation – continues to flourish today on a sound financial footing, even during these trying times for entertainment dollars.

Under Kershaw’s direction, ASO has grown in stature and support. While it adheres to a seasonal concert series, the orchestra plays at selected galas and other special events.

Kershaw also reaches out to aspiring young musicians. He annually holds auditions and selects students from the area to play alongside his professional cast.

This week he gave students at Green River Community College a behind-the-scenes look at his craft, inviting piano soloist extraordinaire Mark Salman.

Salman will be featured in the orchestra’s season-ending “Spring Rhapsody” concert at the Auburn Performing Arts Center on Saturday and Sunday.

“Mark has incredible technique,” Kershaw said. “He’s capable of immense power and immense stamina.”

Kershaw enjoys sharing his passion and expertise. He is foremost a performer, but thrives when it means working alongside devoted musicians, like Salman.

“What I like about Mark is he really searches the inner soul of the composer,” Kershaw said.

Kershaw cares about the future of classical music and is concerned about whether budget-conscious schools will support the arts for years to come.

It is vital that youth remain exposed and connected to the arts, especially in good harmony with music, Kershaw insisted.

“The arts are important,” he said “It is one legacy we leave behind us.”

Kershaw and music share a long and rewarding life.

Born in Oxford, England, Kershaw was a chorister at Chichester Cathedral, studied at London’s Royal Academy of Music (of which he was made a Fellow in 1989), and at the Conservatoire Nationale de Paris.

He has worked at London’s Royal Opera House, the Paris and Lyon Opera Houses in France, the Munich and Stuttgart Opera Houses in Germany, the Kyoto Symphony in Japan, the Evansville (Ind.) Philharmonic and Houston Ballet.

He speaks fluent French and German and plans to study Italian intensely when he embarks on a trip to the country this summer.

For Kershaw, the lessons continue, the music plays on.

“Conductors go on for forever,” he said with a laugh. “It can become a strain … but there’s still so much more music for the orchestra to play.”

Kershaw isn’t ready to bow out gracefully, not just yet.

“I’m in good health,” he said. “I’m good for a few more years to come.”

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ASO to present ‘Spring Rhapsody’

The Auburn Symphony Orchestra concludes its concert season this weekend with “Spring Rhapsody” at the Auburn Performing Arts Center, 700 E. Main St.

The orchestra will be joined by piano soloist Mark Salman, who has been hailed by Seattle’s The Stranger as a “heroic virtuoso.”

The program will open with the popular overture to Wagner’s Tannhauser. Salman will perform Prokoviev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, followed by the orchestra’s rendition of Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, “The Spring.”

Concerts are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2:30 p.m., Sunday. A free pre-concert lecture will be held 45 minutes prior to each performance.

Reserved seats are $25 for adults, $20 for students and seniors.

For more information, call 253.939.8509 or purchase on line at auburnsymphony.org.