The 2008-2009 season is John DeMain's 15th as Music Director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as Artistic Director of
Opera Pacific (Orange County, California) and Artistic Director of
Madison Opera. He is also a sought-after guest conductor of orchestras and opera companies around the world.
Arriving in Madison in February 1994, Mr. DeMain has enriched the cultural life of the city in significant ways. A "gifted orchestra builder" according to The New York Times, Mr. DeMain has brought the MSO to "a pinnacle of excellence…that could not have been envisioned a dozen years ago" (Wisconsin State Journal). He was named the inaugural "Madison Musician of the Year" by the Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times, and was proclaimed "Madison's Maestro" by Governor James Doyle in his 10th anniversary season with the MSO (2003-2004).
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, Pacific 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 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, NY), 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.
During his distinguished 17-year tenure with Houston Grand Opera, Mr. DeMain led a history-making production of 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 John DeMain, was televised as part of the "Live from Lincoln Center" series and garnered an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program."
The 30th anniversary broadcast of "Live from Lincoln Center" in May 2006 celebrated Mr. DeMain's contribution to the 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. Mr. DeMain has conducted many concerts throughout the world with Mr. Domingo, including the celebrated 1992 "Concert for the Planet Earth" from Rio de Janeiro. Television audiences have also seen Mr. DeMain conducting telecasts of Treemonisha, Willie Stark, An American Christmas from the Houston Grand Opera.
This past season, Mr. DeMain returned to New York City Opera and Madison Opera to conduct Tosca, and to Opera Pacific for L'Italiana in Algeri and Aida. This season, he will return to Los Angeles Opera to conduct Porgy and Bess, and in 2007-2008, he'll conduct A View from the Bridge with Washington National Opera.
Maestro DeMain has conducted a number of world premieres, including Rorem's Mallet Concerto, Catan's Suite from Florencia en el Amazonas, Bernstein's A Quiet Place, Floyd's Willie Stark and The Passion of Jonathan Wade, Adams's Nixon in China and Tippet's New Year. He has also led the American premieres of Glass's Akhnaten and Maria de Buenos Aires.
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, John DeMain 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's 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 and made a highly acclaimed debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He also served briefly as Music Director of Texas Opera Theater and as Artistic Director of Opera Omaha for eight years.
Mr. DeMain holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from the University of Nebraska and Edgewood College. He is the Performing Arts Liaison with the Madison Area Technical College and was recently named a Fellow by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. He resides in Madison with his wife, Barbara, and their daughter, Jennifer.
