Gerard Schwarz was born in Weehawkin, New Jersey in 1947.  As a child, he often accompanied his parents, both physicians, to concerts and operas.  At 8 years old, he began studying the trumpet and by 12 had already committed himself to a life in music.  After graduating from Juilliard, he began performing as principal trumpeter with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez.   He began conducting in 1966. As principle conductor of the Seattle Symphony (1978–1986), he made over 100 recordings and during his tenure, subscriptions grew from 5,000 in 1983 to 35,000 in 2008.  An inveterate champion of American composers, his recordings of Walter Piston, William Schuman, and David Diamond, among others, won great acclaim.  He recorded all of Mahler’s symphonies. The list of his recordings conducting other orchestras (Philadelphia Orchestra, the Tokyo and Czech Philharmonics, Orchestre National de France, etc) is prodigious. He has received 14 Grammy nominations and won 4 Emmys out of 5 nominations.