The concertmaster

Ocala Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Stewart Kitts on stage at the Reilly Arts Center. [Photo by Maven Photo + Film]

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Posted October 7, 2025 | By Susan Smiley-Height, [email protected]

Just before the lights go down and the Ocala Symphony Orchestra launches into the opening performances of its 50^th season, concertmaster Stewart Kitts will subtly cue the string section and then take his seat at the front of the AdventHealth Mainstage at the Reilly Arts Center, just to the left of maestro Matthew Wardell.

Kitts has honed his craft for more than six decades. He was born in Indiana and is a third-generation professional violinist who began playing at the age of 5 on a quarter-size violin built by his teacher and grandfather Otto “Opa” Frey. At the age of 6, Kitts performed as a soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

“My parents met at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. My mom was a German violinist in the orchestra, and my dad was an American Army officer who was a conducting student. They fell in love in a very brief amount of time and got married and joined the Indianapolis Symphony, my mom in the violin section and my dad a bassoonist,” Kitts said.

“My greatest mentor was my mom’s dad, my Opa (grandpa in German). I had a lesson every day from him from the age of 5 until he passed three days after my 12^th birthday. After he passed, I studied with several other teachers, including summer studies with Ivan Galamian at the Meadowmount School of Music in New York. This was a summer program for eight weeks where you had to practice five hours every day. I went there after eighth, ninth, 10th and 11^th grades. During the school year, I practiced three hours on school days and five on the weekends. I had to practice every day except Christmas and my birthday,” Kitts recalled.

When Kitts was 7, his father got a teaching job at the University of Florida and the family moved to Gainesville.

At 10, he soloed with the University of Florida Symphony Orchestra and became concertmaster of the Alachua County Youth Orchestra. At 14, he became the youngest member ever of the Jacksonville Symphony. At 18, he soloed with the Jacksonville Symphony more than 30 times.

Kitts studied with former Gainesville Orchestra concertmaster Carol Cohen and Jacksonville Symphony concertmaster Aaron Krosnick. He also studied with soloist James Buswell as a violin performance major at Indiana University.

“I attended Jacksonville University my freshman year, where I was awarded the Outstanding String Player Award. Being the biggest fish in that pond, I transferred to Indiana University, the number one-rated music school, with 3,000 music majors and five orchestras,” Kitts shared.

After college, Kitts spent a year as principal second violinist of the Savannah Symphony Orchestra. The following summer, he was the concertmaster of the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina and in Spoleto, Italy. He then won the position of associate concertmaster of The Florida Orchestra, a position he held for 23 years. During those years, he also served for nine summers as associate concertmaster of the Colorado Music Festival.

Following the Florida Orchestra, Kitts has been concertmaster of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Hollywood Philharmonic Orchestra and the Punta Gorda Symphony. He also has served as concertmaster for Disney recording sessions and touring shows and artists including Mannheim Steamroller, Johnny Mathis, Ann Murray, Styx, Little River Band, Young Frankenstein, The Alan Parsons Project, Sting, Adam Levine and many others.

In addition to serving as concertmaster of the OSO since 2018, Kitts also is concertmaster of the Gainesville Orchestra and The Villages Philharmonic Orchestra. He resides in Gainesville, where he has a teaching studio and is co-director with his sister Jennifer Guzman of the Gainesville Suzuki Players, and is conductor of the Celebration String Orchestra. He is the father of fourth-generation violinists Elizabeth Kitts McBryde and Natalie Kitts.

 

What is a concertmaster?

“A concertmaster sets the bowings for the strings. This is important as it affects the interpretation of the music. A concertmaster also plays any solos that are in the music and is the conduit between the conductor and the strings,” Kitts explained.

He said the conductor may ask for a certain style or effect, and it is the concertmaster’s job to fulfil that and explain to the section or sections how to achieve that.

“For example, what part of the bow to play in, is it off the string or on the string,” he noted. “I also use body language to lead the section, for example when I raise my violin after a rest. Or move with the music to impart energy to the section. I also sometimes tell the section which string to play on as it affects the timbre or tone color of the music. A concertmaster also has to play every note. It requires more preparation.”

As for serving as a concertmaster for touring shows, he said, “You usually only have one rehearsal and sometimes it is very loud!”

“Sometimes I have to have an earpiece with a click track in it so the music can be perfectly timed. For example, sometimes I have played a live movie soundtrack where we have to be in perfect sync with the film. Also, I usually have a microphone attached to my violin in these cases,” he shared.

Advice for aspiring musicians?

“Find a good teacher. Listen to a lot of music. When I was young, I had a record player that I listened to every night in bed. Now YouTube is a wonderful tool. I have a YouTube channel, Fiddlesttik (fiddle, then my last name spelled backwards), where I post practice videos for my students to play along with, at different tempos,” Kitts offered.

“Have the discipline to practice every day. I tell my students, ‘You don’t have to practice every day, only on the days that you eat.’ That is a quote from Dr. Suzuki, the founder of the Suzuki Method,” he added.

“Practice scales and arpeggios. Learn those patterns. Music is made up of variations of those patterns. If you have all of those patterns under your fingers, sight reading becomes easy,” he said.

Kitts also noted that he has this set of teaching mantras:

• You must think about it until you don’t. Whatever you are working on requires a lot of thought and concentration until you get to the point of playing without conscious thought.)
• Practice it until it is easy. Don’t just practice to the point of competency, practice to the point of expertise.
• Strive for beauty. Try to play beautifully, not just in general, but EVERY note.
• The octave is the fundamental interval for intonation in all positions. The physics of strings is that the notes get closer together the higher you go up the strings, for example if you divide a string in half, you get one octave higher, but the second octave is only a quarter of the string. So, if you train your fingers to play octaves in tune, your hand automatically contracts and expands as you go up and down the strings.
• Efficiency equals speed and accuracy. The more efficient you are with posture, hand position, finger placement etc., the faster and more accurately you can play.

Celebrating 50 years of music

As Kitts prepares for the OSO’s 50^th season opener, with concerts on Oct. 18 and 19 at the Reilly Arts Center, with the theme “Nights in the Gardens of Spain,” he said, “It’s very exciting. A nice commitment of the community.”

“There is nothing like being at a live concert,” Kitts continued. “The sounds envelope you; you can watch the performers. The conductor, Matt Wardell, is very funny besides being a great conductor.”

“A good concertmaster is someone a conductor and orchestra can rely on as a partner and leader in rehearsals and concerts. Stewart isn’t just a good concertmaster, he is a great one,” Wardell offered.

“We trust each other, we enjoy working together and we are both incredibly committed to authentic performances. I feel incredibly fortunate to have him with us in Ocala,” Wardell added.

Natalie McComb, executive director of the Reilly Arts Center and the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, said, “What makes Stewart extraordinary is not only his mastery of the violin, but the way he guides the orchestra from the concertmaster’s chair. His leadership and precision elevate the entire ensemble.”

“It is a privilege to hear Stewart perform, and also a deeply moving experience. Our community is fortunate to experience that kind of artistry in our own symphony,” she added.

As for the upcoming concert, Wardell said it will include the dazzling brilliance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol,” the shimmering poetry of de Falla’s “Nights in the Gardens of Spain,” performed by Spanish pianist José María Inglés, and selections from Bizet’s “Carmen.”

“Your orchestra will absolutely captivate you. We’ll also give the United States premiere of “Castilla” by María de Pablos—a piece she wrote at just 23 before tragically spending the next 50 years in a sanitarium, her gifts largely unrecognized by the world. Bringing her music to American audiences for the first time is profoundly moving and is exactly why we do what we do,” Wardell noted.

The Reilly Arts Center is at 500 NE Ninth St., Ocala. The first performance of “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” will begin at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18, with the second at 3 p.m. on Oct. 19.

Tickets may be purchased at the box office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and online at reillyartscenter.com