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By Andrew L. Pincus Special to the Eagle NEW LEBANON, N.Y. -- Christian Steiner answers with an emphatic "no!" No, he certainly never expected his Tannery Pond Concerts to reach their 20th anniversary. But behold! Tomorrow night, the Brentano String Quartet opens the milestone season with a program of Schumann, Britten and Beethoven at 6. Six more concerts will climax in a Sept. 25 finale.

In the beginning, there were the Spencertown Academy's concerts. When Steiner agreed to take over from the series late Beatrice Laurain in 1986, he told her, "Well, I don't know whether I'm going to like this. I'll try it for one year."

He recalls the Spencertown series as a mom-and-pop operation that had a good day when it drew an audience of 50. Seeking broader horizons, Steiner moved the concerts in 1991 to the former Shaker Tannery on the grounds of the Darrow School, took the new name and began attracting sellout audiences to the renovated 290-seat barn.

A New York City photographer of musicians and a pianist in his own right, Steiner learned on the job. The inaugural season, for example, featured a benefit recital by superstar soprano Jessye Norman. "We were dumb," he recalls. The ticket prices could have been set higher. "But we didn't. We didn't know better. So the minute the word was out, the tickets were sold."

Before there could be concerts, 2,000 bats had to be evicted from the spacious 1834 tannery, which fronts on the former mill pond. Now, townspeople and weekenders trek from the far-flung parking lot to hear music on the flower-decked stage.

The benches and chairs offer minimal comfort and there is no air conditioning for sweltering evenings. Amenities include the liveliest program notes in the Berkshires and goodies to be eaten and drunk on the extensive lawns.

Yet to come in the anniversary season are programs built around flutist Paula Robison, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux and violinist Jennifer Frautschi, plus -- for the first time, Steiner proudly declares -- recitals by three pianists: Jeremy Denk, Kirill Gerstein and Alon Goldstein.

Tannery Pond shares Gerstein, the 2010 winner of the $300,000 Gilmore Award, with Tanglewood, where he will make his Boston Symphony debut the night before. The shared soloist is a Tannery first.

Other notables who have appeared over the years include violinists Midori, Gil Shaham and Jaime Laredo; singers Susan Graham, Christine Brewer and Ben Heppner; pianists Earl Wild, Stephen Hough and Richard Goode, and the Emerson, Lark and St. Lawrence string quartets. Yet the concerts are notable for discoveries as well as stars. Gerstein, for example, will be making his third appearance, dating back to before he became a major award winner. Denk, another three-timer, has also become an important figure on the national scene. He, too, will be making a Tanglewood debut this summer. The first Gerstein engagement, in 2002, shows how things work at the old Tannery.

While shooting publicity photos of the then 22-year-old Russian emigre at the keyboard, Steiner was "bowled over" by his playing, personality and range of interests. Meanwhile, soprano Carol Vaness had just canceled her Tannery recital.

"And so," Steiner recalls, "then it occurred to me, 'Well, maybe he wants to fill Carol's place.' And I said, 'Would you like to play a concert?' And he said, 'Of course I would.' "

Many artists are Steiner's photography clients but many aren't, he says. And while friends have made concessions on fees, he's trying to bring payments for all up to professional standards.¬Ý Naturally, there have been highs and lows.

Steiner's all-time high was the 2003 benefit recital by Susan Graham. "A great artist, a great singer," he marvels. He loves "her voice, her musicianship, everything about her."

The all-time low was a singer -- she'll remain nameless -- who came to him on her management's recommendation. A disaster. "When this singer finally, in the rehearsal, opened her mouth, I wanted to crawl under the seat," he remembers. From then on, he vowed, he'd never hire an artist without hearing the person first. And it has to be in concert. He doesn't do auditions. He doesn't like to say, "No, you're not good enough."

There have been rude awakenings along the way. In 2007, Vivica Genaux had to cancel her debut recital on two days' notice because of sickness. The Tannery was sold out, Steiner says, "and I wanted to pull out my hair." Scrambling around, he was able to land soprano Heidi Grant Murphy as a replacement, with her husband as pianist. "She was more known in the Berkshires than Vivica, and upon walking into the hall, some people asked me how I had been able to pull this off and suggested that we should ask for more money because of Heidi."

Then there was the 2008 performance of Beethoven's "Archduke" Trio by violinist Da-Hong Seetoo with the well-known duo of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. During the first movement, the power failed.

The performance went on with Steiner and others shining flashlights onto the music. The audience listened in darkness. "That ended up to be fun!" Steiner says enthusiastically. "You know, standing there with flashlights? That was great!"

At other times, Steiner, who is is his early 70s and has a weekend home nearby, doubles as a pianist. But only as an accompanist or in chamber music. He leaves the solo gigs to others. Mostly, you can see him running around, slightly frantic, as stage manager and greeter. Despite the recession, the series' finances are holding up "pretty well," Steiner says. Donations have remained fairly steady, and the concerts have benefited from a one-time $100,000 grant from dissolution of the fund set up by the late benefactress Alice Tully. Mom and pop no more.