John DeMain

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Maestro John DeMain

John DeMain is an American conductor and the current Music Director for Madison Symphony Orchestra, Artistic and Music Director for Opera Pacific and Artistic Director for Madison Opera.

[edit] Background

Hailed as a "gifted orchestra builder" by The New York Times (11/23/2004), John DeMain is a sought-after guest conductor of orchestras and opera companies around the world. DeMain, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, began his career as a pianist and conductor. After winning the Youngstown Symphony's piano competition at the age of 18, he went on to earn Bachelor and Master's Degrees in Music at the Juilliard School. While in New York, he served as Associate Conductor for the National Education Television Opera Project, Associate Conductor of the Norwalk Symphony, and assistant conductor of the New York City Opera as the second recipient of the Julius Rudel Award. One of the first six American conductors to receive the Exxon/National Endowment for the Arts conducting grant, Mr. DeMain was appointed Associate Conductor of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He also served briefly as Music Director of the Texas Opera Theater and as Artistic Director of Opera Omaha for eight years.

He served as Music Director and Principal Conductor for the Houston Grand Opera for 18 years. He is best known for his conducting of new operas; he conducted the premieres of John Adams's Nixon in China, Leonard Bernstein's A Quiet Place, Carlisle Floyd's Willie Stark and The Passion of Jonathan Wade, and Michael Tippett's New Year, as well as the United States premiere of Philip Glass's Akhnaten and Astor Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires. On the orchestra stage, DeMain has conducted the world premiere of Ned Rorem's Mallet Concerto with percussionist Evelyn Glennie, and Daniel Catan's Suite from Florencia en el Amazonas.

During his 18-year tenure with Houston Grand Opera, DeMain led a history-making production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, which he subsequently recorded for RCA, and which won a Grammy Award, Tony Award and France's Grand Prix du Disque. The New York City Opera's 2002 production of Porgy and Bess, conducted by DeMain, was televised as part of PBS's Live from Lincoln Center series and garnered an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program."

On the concert stage, John DeMain has conducted the orchestras of Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, St. Louis and Seattle, the National Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Aspen Chamber Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the Orchestra of Seville, and the Mittledeutscher Rundfunk Orchestra, among others. He is a regular guest conductor of The Washington Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Michigan Opera Theater and New York City Opera. He has also led productions for Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Aspen Music Festival, State Opera of South Australia, Opera Queensland (Australia), Baltimore Opera, Bregenz Festival, Cleveland Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Florentine Opera (Milwaukee), Glimmerglass Opera (Cooperstown, New York), Edmonton Opera, Italy's Teatro Regio Emilia and Festival Euro Mediterraneo, Juilliard Opera Center, Lake George Opera, Manitoba Opera, Teatro Belles Artes of Mexico City, Nice Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera de Puerto Rico, Opera Theater of St. Louis, San Diego Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, and Wexford Festival.

The 30th anniversary broadcast of Live from Lincoln Center in May 2006 celebrated Mr. DeMain's contribution to the PBS series with excerpts from his performances of Porgy and Bess with New York City Opera, and of "No puede ser" from Pablo Sorozábal's opera La Tabernera del Puerto with the legendary tenor Plácido Domingo. DeMain has conducted many concerts throughout the world with Domingo, including the celebrated 1992 "Concert for the Planet Earth" in Rio de Janeiro.

Television audiences have also seen DeMain conducting telecasts of Treemonisha, Willie Stark and An American Christmas from the Houston Grand Opera.

DeMain holds an honorary doctorate in arts and letters from the University of Nebraska and Edgewood College, and was recently named a Fellow by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. He is the Performing Arts Liaison with the Madison Area Technical College.

He resides in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife, Barbara, and their daughter, Jennifer.