John DeMain

John DeMain is a conductor best known as the longtime music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin, where he leads both holiday pops concerts and mainstage classical programs. Audiences come to hear him conduct a mix of orchestral staples and contemporary works alongside visiting soloists, in a role he has held for many years in Madison's musical life.

In December, DeMain leads the Madison Symphony's holiday program, a concert built around seasonal favorites meant for a broad family audience rather than deep musical argument. His March concerts offer a more substantial evening: Caroline Shaw's The Observatory, a recent orchestral work, opens the program, followed by Brahms's Symphony No. 3, a piece known for a soft, falling three-note phrase that returns throughout its four movements, and Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, a work that puts the orchestra mostly in a supporting role behind the piano's long, ornamented melodic lines. Listeners who know DeMain's long history with the Madison Symphony can expect a conductor comfortable pacing both a light holiday show and a more demanding romantic and contemporary program in the same season.