Jon Deak (born April 27, 1943) is a Hungarian American double bassist and composer. He is currently associate principal bass of the New York Philharmonic, a position he's held since 1973 after joining the Philharmonic in 1969 under Pierre Boulez, and a prominent contemporary composer of orchestral and chamber works. In addition to playing double bass he also serves as the Creative Education Associate of the New York Philharmonic. He went to North Korea with the Philharmonic to play a concert after going on tour in Shanghai, China for several weeks in February.
Jon Deak was born in Hammond, Indiana and grew up in an artistic environment. His father and mother were sculptors and painters from Eastern Europe; he himself has worked in sculpture and was active in the "performance art" movement in New York's Soho district. He attended Oberlin College, The Juilliard School, the University of Illinois, and the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome as a fullbright scholar.
His compositions have been performed at music festivals worldwide and by orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic and major chamber groups around the country. His Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra (Jack and the Beanstalk) was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize by the National Symphony. His compositions have been recorded by Centaur, CRI, Innova, and Cabrillo records.
At Oberlin, he met his first wife, Carol. They adopted a son named Alex, but they later divorced. His second wife Jackie is a cellist in the Metropolitan Opera and they have had three children, Nicky, Forrest, and Selena. Deak teaches a composition class in the public school that his three children attend in New York City. He is an outspoken environmental advocate and wilderness mountaineer who has led climbing expeditions into the Canadian Rockies, Alaska, and the Himalayas.
In March, he went to Pyongyang, North Korea, and performed there with the New York Philharmonic. There he let the North Korean musicians play a piece written by one of his young composer students. In the beginning of his Young Composers Program, Deak started out having a few concerts a year, but now, years later, his program has grown and developed and his orchestra, the New York Philharmonic now performs many more.
Jon Deak has announced his retirement from the New York Philharmonic, effective at the close of the 2008-2009 season.