When Ernie Green joined Live Arts Maryland as its artistic director, he thought it would be an eight- or nine-year gig. That was in 1985. Now he’s celebrating his 40th anniversary in the position.

As the nonprofit’s artistic director, Green is tasked with, as he puts it, setting the artistic tone and direction for the organization’s slate of concerts and performances every season. He said he likes to focus on connections and artistic identity, creating a through line so every season tells its own unique story — evidence of his background in theater.

He fancies himself a risk-taker, always focusing on trying new things, but puts meaning behind every decision.

“If I have an idea where I think, ‘Oh, this could be really cool,’ I don’t want to leave it sitting on the table untried,” Green said. “I can’t think of anything much less pleasant than doing the same thing over and over and over again. … The risk is the joy, because you’re discovering something.”

“People come to a concert, then they don’t come back [if] there’s no attention to the experience,” Green added later. “You need to think about what is the experience, what experience do you want your audience to have when it’s all said and done?”

The availability of digital concerts makes that experience all the more important.

There are many examples of the risks Green has taken over the years, like a performance of the “Messiah” competing against the Naval Academy’s, introducing Broadway musical concerts, or a Good Friday choir performance at Saint Anne’s Church earlier this month, which combined chorale members with a church choir. One huge risk, however, was the establishment of the organization’s Annapolis Mall performance space.

Opened in 2021, Green said the idea of performing at the mall came from a desire to bring spontaneity to the concert experience. After the pandemic, he noticed that concertgoers began buying their tickets closer and closer to showtime, but the commitment of going to a separate venue made last-minute attendees a hard sell. He believes that being in the mall makes it possible for a passerby to decide to check out a concert on a whim.

When Green joined what was then called the Annapolis Chorale, it was just over a decade old. He was finishing up his master’s degree in conducting at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins, and when the chorale came searching for a new artistic director, his name was suggested by every professor. At the same time, a Baltimore Operetta was trying to recruit him, but what tipped the scale in the chorale’s direction was the potential he saw in its performers.

“I felt like they didn’t really have an idea about what was possible for them. They were, in a way, still like ‘We’re not that, we’re not at that level,’ and they really were. They sang well, they had this beautiful sound, and they were great people,” Green said.

The nine years turned to 40 when Green found the chorale could continuously grow and reinvent itself, which made it always interesting and enriching to him.

One of those reinventions took place in 2008, when the Annapolis Chorale became Live Arts Maryland and began offering and supporting performances other than just the chorale, though it is still a very large part of the organization’s DNA. Before COVID, it hit 175 members.

“The reason we get a whole lot of new people is because of [Green],” said Katherine Hilton, part of the Live Arts Maryland board of directors. “Five minutes in, I knew this was not your average choir conductor. … He gets singers, he gets the music, he understands how the orchestra and the chorale should function together. … I’m a much better musician now than I used to be.”

Off stage, Green is an avid golfer, cyclist, and teacher at Washington College. His two kids, a son and a daughter, also went to Peabody and are both musicians. He said the chorale was singing over the phone when they were both born.

For those who want to listen to Green himself, the organization is hosting a series of casual performances at the mall studio to celebrate his milestone. One will be held on May 8 and another on June 5; both start at 7:30 p.m.

Their next traditional concert is on May 3 at Maryland Hall. Entitled “Modern Masterworks,” the performance features Peter Warlock’s “Capriol Suite” and Karl Jenkins’ “Requiem.”

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