Bremerton Symphony’s new conductor and artistic director, Elizabeth Stoyanovich, says many conductors throughout history have been known as tyrants with overdominant personalities.

There is nothing overdominant about Stoyanovich – at least off the podium. Warm, genuine and well-spoken, in her modest Bremerton office she is like any other artist who daily mixes creative energies with the administrative and organizational duties of a businessperson. But in the few months since she got charge of the symphony last October, her ambitious personality has shined through every concert and public appearance.

Stoyanovich says music is not only a personal experience that invigorates people, but also a part of the community’s vitality. So along with her ambition, high expectations and extensive qualifications, she brought big dreams for the volunteer-based symphony: to make it “viable and valuable” and versatile enough to serve all aspects of the community.

“I like to make music accessible and fulfilling,“ she says. “I try to bring innovation and creativity back.”

She has certainly done that in her previous engagements, through various innovative programs and educational efforts. And while she is known for invigorating many orchestras over a long term, she is equally known for her commanding performances. As one critic remarked, through her talent she “made the New World Symphony sound new again.” Another noted that she was once asked to fill in a conductor spot at the last minute for a concert with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra in California, and delivered a performance that upstaged the guest violinist.

Stoyanovich, a conductor for 22 years, says breaking the stereotypes of the male-dominated establishment that has deep European roots can sometimes be disheartening. Yet she has her own advantages. After growing up in the home of a musician — her mother — she has never really escaped having music all around her. Married to a composer, she sees and hears the process of breathing life into music every day. And while conductors usually get only the final scores into their hands, Stoyanovich can help shape many works in progress.

“It’s a piece of clay you are creating and it’s fun to be part of the process,” she says. Being able to interpret a piece on behalf of the composer is as much fun — and Stoyanovich proudly says she’s a good interpreter of husband Patrick’s music because she knows him so well. Plus, he’s been writing music for her to perform and conduct ever since they met.

They were both performers when they first met. Stoyanovich had no inkling of becoming a conductor while in college, and specialized in playing the oboe. While she has not played it for about a decade, she still has it but has traded shaping reeds for shaping scores.

With the world of music being so predominant for the two, it’s no surprise that their two daughters, ages 7 and 9, are playing string instruments, and practicing daily three times.

The girls also have the responsibility of making sure their work is done while mom is on the road — and with her conducting at the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Butte Symphony Orchestra as well, she’s on the road a lot.

“We’re gypsies,” she says. “Music takes you all over the place.”

Although she was speaking in geographical terms, music has taken Stoyanovich beyond the many places she visited worldwide. Through the prejudice still occasionally afforded a woman conductor, and the many times when she didn’t make the cut because of it, she has proven that excellence and leadership in her field has nothing to do with which box you check in the demographic questionnaire.

She splits her work time between managing the scores and the musicians and managing the growth of the symphony, including writing grants, planning new programs and partnerships and even answering the office phone. Once family and her two other orchestras are added in, it’s easy to see why she says some people don’t understand why she does it all.

Stoyanovich has an easy answer: She juggled 500 balls in high school by being a good student, involved in athletics and extracurricular activities. She did the same in college. So why should now be any different?

”I wanted a lot out of my life, this is how I function,” she says. “I want to be a conductor, and a mother and have a certain lifestyle, and I have to use my energy to do those things. I can’t imagine it any other way.”

As she has channeled much of that energy into revitalizing the Bremerton Symphony and dreaming up a promising future for it, it shouldn’t be too long before her ambition crescendos the beat of the community as well.