PNB music director Stewart Kershaw bows out

After 25 seasons as Pacific Northwest Ballet's music director, Stewart Kershaw is stepping down from the podium.

Kershaw, 68, announced his decision Tuesday. "In planning my departure from the ballet world," he wrote in a letter to the PNB orchestra, "I wanted to make my own personal farewell on a high note with music that has always been so very dear to my heart — what better than Prokofiev's 'Romeo and Juliet' as my swan song?"

On the phone Tuesday, Kershaw agreed that the sudden announcement came as a surprise to all at PNB, and emphasized that there was "absolutely no rancor" in the decision.

"For the last three or four years, I've been mulling over in my mind as to when I could retire from the ballet world," he said, noting that his career began in 1966 with the Royal Ballet, conducting performances by Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. Now, he said, "was the right time for me."

The timing, he said, was affected by one piece of PNB orchestra business to complete: finding a replacement for outgoing concertmaster Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi. Of the three finalists for the position, one was not able to try out with the orchestra until the run of Jean-Christophe Maillot's "Roméo et Juliette" (set to the Prokofiev score), which concluded last weekend.

"All three were absolutely brilliant, brilliant violinists," Kershaw said. "I knew that whatever my final decision, obviously hopefully a majority of the orchestra would be happy, but of course you've always got a part that would be unhappy."

He chose violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim, whose credits include the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra.

Kershaw said that while he's saying goodbye to the ballet world, he's not quite disappearing into the sunset: He'll continue as music director of the Auburn Symphony, whose roster includes many PNB orchestra members.

His final "Nutcracker" tally — he conducted PNB's premiere of the Kent Stowell/Maurice Sendak version in 1983 — will stand at 586 with PNB, "maybe 800" altogether. Considering those numbers, will he miss "Nutcracker"? Kershaw laughed. "No."

Looking back on his quarter century with PNB, Kershaw spoke with pride of the orchestra, which The New York Times recently described as "perhaps best of all" among American ballet orchestras. And he cited a favorite memory: the emotional final performance of longtime PNB principal dancer Louise Nadeau last June.

"It was remarkable, it was extraordinary. I had tears in my eyes," he said of Nadeau's final exit from the stage. "I think in the arts world, it's so important that you're able to say goodbye at a time when you feel that you're absolutely at the height of your powers. She did that, and I'm doing that now. I just hope and trust that what I did on the podium for 'Romeo and Juliet' was the best I could possibly achieve in my career."

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com