**Sharon Lavery leads the Downey Symphony Orchestra in a rehearsal Tuesday at the Downey Theatre. Photo by Alex Dominguez**

DOWNEY — When you listen to the Downey Symphony Orchestra, the performance is that of each musician, the arrangements and compositions of the composers who wrote them.

And it’s Sharon Lavery who is tasked with bringing it all together.

“I think I figured out that as a conductor, most of our job, in my opinion, is problem solving,” said Lavery. “When you have an ensemble in front of you, and you need to make it sound good, and you need to make the music sound beautiful, you’ve got to problem solve, and you’ve got to figure out who needs help here, and who needs help there, and let’s get the trombones to play with the trumpets.

“I think that me, personally, I’m a problem solver. I think part of that really attracted me to conducting – being in front of a group and problem solving to figure out how to make them sound good.”

Lavery, 54, has led the Downey Symphony Orchestra as its music director since 2007.

She says she fell “in love with the organization from the first season.”

“I just remember thinking, ‘Well, I’m just going to do this until they kick me out,’” said Lavery.

As music director, Lavery is responsible for the musical selections of each performance. Once a concert has been selected, Lavery analyzes each piece, breaking down each harmony, phrase, dynamic direction, and cue in preparation to lead the ensemble.

Still, she says most of the music “is already there.”

“All of this music is already there. The majority of it, the music is already there,” said Lavery. “My job is to bring out all the nuances. Whatever Beethoven wrote, if he wrote a crescendo here, and they don’t give a full crescendo to where I think Beethoven wanted them to go, that’s my job: to dig into what he wrote and exaggerate the dynamics, exaggerate the phrasing, exaggerate the articulation.

“That’s my job, but could they do a lot of this music without me? Probably. It all depends on the repertoire.”

Most conductors don’t start off with batons in their hands; neither did Lavery.

Born and raised in Ossining, New York, Lavery began her life in music early in the fourth grade, when she found herself mesmerized by her school band teacher and his clarinet.

“When you’re in an early grade, the band teacher comes around and demonstrates on all the instruments, and then if you want to be in the band program you have to choose an instrument,” said Lavery. “[My teacher] was demonstrating all the instruments, and when he got to that clarinet, he made it sound unbelievable. He started from the low register and went all the way up to the high register. I remember like it was yesterday; I remember thinking to myself, ‘I want to sound like that.’

“Later I found out – this was like 10, 12 years later – he was a professional clarinetist. So, probably my young fourth grade ear probably picked up that he clearly sounded the best on this particular instrument, and I just didn’t know it at the time.”

Following that introduction, Lavery continued her upbringing in band, orchestra, and even some jazz along the way.

Her real passion, however, would be in education.

“As I was getting ready to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I always knew that I wanted to teach. That was first and foremost,” said Lavery. “I wasn’t sure what that would mean, but as I started becoming a little more serious with my music, it just dawned on me, ‘You know, I think I’m just going to keep doing this music thing and teach music.’”

Lavery pursued music education at Michigan State University, earning her bachelors.

While there, she discovered a new passion in music: conducting.

“As part of music education, you have to take conducting courses,” said Lavery. “I supposed that’s probably where I was bit by the conducting bug, taking some of those courses in my college days. I was also drum major in high school, which put me up in front of a group, so that might have started things as well.”

After finishing her undergraduate degree, Lavery thought to herself that “there was only one way to become a good conductor.”

“That is to master an instrument first,” said Lavery. “So I decided to continue my clarinet performing and went to New England Conservatory to get a masters in clarinet performance.

“I feel strongly that in order to be a conductor, you really have to master an instrument first and become a first-rate musician before you can start getting in front of an ensemble; that’s just my own philosophy.”

Still, Lavery says that she would take some additional conducting courses because of her own interest.

Upon finishing her masters, Lavery says it was time to “get a job.”

“I got a job teaching in the public school system for five years,” said Lavery. “While I was teaching high school and elementary…in the summers I was taking these conducting seminars where they’re specifically geared towards learning conducting, and they have musicians play for you.

“I was doing those things in the summer because I always had that dream of becoming a conductor.”

After teaching in the public school system for about five years, Lavery “bit the bullet” at the age of 29 and moved out west to audition for and join USC’s conducting program.

“I moved out here, not a dime in my pocket, but I did it,” said Lavery. “After I got my degree in conducting, I got a job as the orchestra manager at USC.”

Lavery says that “things just started happening” and that she was “in the right place at the right time.”

“We needed a resident conductor for the wind ensemble, and I auditioned for that job, and I won that job,” said Lavery. “For a while there, I was both managing the orchestra and I was the resident conductor of the wind ensemble.”

Lavery is currently the resident conductor of the Thornton Symphony, Chamber Orchestra, and Thornton Winds at USC, and the department chair for the wind and percussion department. She also served as music director of the Thornton Concert Orchestra for seven years, and teaches instrumental conducting and varying levels.

This weekend, Lavery will once again lead the Downey Symphony’s “Springtide” Concert, featuring performances of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 “Italian,” and Mozart’s Piano Concert No. 20 in D minor with Cameron Akioka on piano.

Admittedly, the Downey Symphony has struggled bringing in audiences since the Covid-19 pandemic. Lavery hopes to turn things around.

“We’re trying to find our way through financial challenges; we just are,” said Lavery. “Covid, in my opinion, has hurt us a little bit as far as audience attendance. I don’t know if people are just still nervous to be in crowds.

“I don’t know, but that’s what I’m concentrating on, is how to help us stay vibrant and healthy as an organization. So I just want to keep going.”

After 17 years, music director Sharon Lavery more motivated than ever