Matthew Sternberg: A voice for opera in Lancaster

Few people possess vast experience in community revitalization and opera, but Matthew Sternberg is one of them.

The 56-year-old executive director of the Lancaster County Housing & Redevelopment Authorities worked in opera for years, until leaving that career behind in the 1980s.

However, earlier this month he returned to the stage after a 25-year hiatus by directing OperaLancaster's production of "Amahl and the Night Visitors" at Fulton Opera House.

Hometown: Aberdeen, Md.

Current residence: East Hempfield Township.

Family: Married to Libby Sternberg; three children,    Joseph, 28, who lives in Hong Kong and writes editorials and a weekly business column for the Wall Street Journal Asia; David, 24, a second lieutenant in the Air Force; and Hannah, 22, a broadcast technician for The Heritage Foundation who has her first novel coming out this spring.

Education: Bachelor's in theater from Tufts University; MBA from Loyola University in Maryland.

After being away so long, I returned to opera because: The time and place were right. My wife and I moved here four years ago, and have been pleased to discover that Lancaster is a very good arts town. ... Folks here understand the importance of the arts and want it in their community. So when OperaLancaster President John Meeder encouraged me to think about taking on a show, I agreed. Unlike the early days, when I was worried about trying to make a living out of it ... all I had to worry about was the show itself. I had a great time!

When I first developed an interest in opera: My mother took me to a few performances of the Harford Opera Theater in Bel Air, Md., in the mid-'60s, when they were performing in an old barn.

Then one day in the early summer of 1968, I was 13 and looking for something to do when a friend suggested I come along for the afternoon to work in a scene shop where she was apprenticing. Turned out to be Harford Opera, and they had just moved into a brand-new theater. They were preparing a production of "HMS Pinafore," and the afternoon I was there, they were desperate because the phone company hadn't delivered the telephone pole they were going to use as the mast for the ship.

Late in the day, after waiting in vain for the delivery, a group of us trouped across a field and "borrowed" a telephone pole that was lying at the edge of the parking lot of the Baptist church on the corner. We carried the pole back across the field and stuck it up on the stage. I was hooked.

What appeals to me most about opera: Perhaps opera speaks to me so strongly because I started so young and many of the experiences of my adolescence were against a backdrop of opera. But I find opera opens a range of expression you can't get any other way. Some people complain that it's not realistic — people don't walk around singing. But achieving reality isn't the goal; presenting a heightened image of reality is the goal. ... Good theater strips away the limitations of reality and offers an opportunity to explore the underlying emotion and human character. Music adds depth to that expression.

A common misperception the public has about opera: Many people think of grand opera as heavy singers on a large stage, belting out their music at the expense of other theatrical values. Unfortunately, such productions do exist. I don't sit through very many of them.

But production trends in the last generation or so have taken opera in a whole new direction. Smaller productions in smaller venues, with a keener focus on theatrical values, have made the work much more accessible. Indeed, it is the way many operas were originally intended to be produced. OperaLancaster's "Amahl and the Night Visitors" is a case in point. Done in the Fulton, it brought the production to a properly sized house, in close relationship to the audience.

My other hobbies and interests: Gardening — trying to get the roses to perform; following national and world events.

Growing up, I wanted to be: Grown up. ... I didn't want to be a kid any longer than I had to.

Favorite vacation spot: The beach. Any beach. Anywhere. Anytime.

A TV show I don't want to admit I watch: "The Millionaire Matchmaker." (Only because my wife has it on. Honest!)

The best book I've read lately: "Sloane Hall" by Libby Sternberg. This is blatant self-promotion, because my wife wrote it, but it's a great book! It's a retelling of "Jane Eyre" set in Hollywood in 1929, just as the movie industry switches from silent pictures to sound.

The best movie I've seen recently: The 1939 version of "Pygmalion" with Trevor Howard.

What I read: The Wall Street Journal and the Lancaster papers are what I read regularly.

A website I frequent: The Drudge Report.

The living person I'd most like to have dinner with: My wife.

My culinary specialty: Dining out.

Something that can always be found in my refrigerator: I don't know what it is, but the expiration date is in Roman numerals.

A favorite quotation: "Americans will always do the right thing, after they've tried everything else." — Winston Churchill.

Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.