Robert deMaine
Robert deMaine (born December 6, 1969 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American virtuoso cellist, known as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral principal, recording artist, composer, and teacher.
Biography
Robert deMaine was born into a musical family of French and Polish ancestry.[1] A former child prodigy, his cello teachers have included his mother, Anna, and sister, Mary, and cellists Jane Smith, Kari Padgett Caldwell, Leonard Rose, Steven Doane, Paul Katz, and Aldo Parisot.
He made his orchestral début at age 12 with the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra[2] (now the Oklahoma City Philharmonic), playing Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33.
Education
DeMaine is a fellowship alumnus of Yale University and the Eastman School of Music, and has also studied at the Meadowmount School of Music,[3] Marlboro Music School and Festival, Kronberg Academy, and the Juilliard School.
Competitions
In 1990, deMaine was named the winner of the fifth Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings in San Francisco,[4] and was the first cellist in the competition's history to win the Grand Prize.
Current activities
In 2012, Robert deMaine was appointed Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. DeMaine was Principal Cellist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2002-2012,[5] having been hired by the ensemble's then-Music Director, Neeme Järvi. Previously, he was Core Principal Cellist of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (from 1993-2002). DeMaine has also served as a guest Principal Cellist in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway.
DeMaine is the cellist of the Ehnes Quartet, formed at the Seattle Chamber Music Society in 2010, and the Dicterow-DeMaine-Biegel Trio, formed in New York in 2013.
Currently based in Los Angeles, Robert deMaine maintains a schedule of international solo, chamber music, festival, and recital appearances around his orchestral duties.
A much sought-after teacher and coach, deMaine has presented masterclasses at many important music schools throughout the world, including London's Guildhall School, the Grieg Academy in Norway, the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, the Colburn School, the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, New England Conservatory, Music Academy of the West, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Michigan, the Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música (Argentina) in Buenos Aires, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Yale University, Manhattan School of Music, Stanford University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Hartt School of Music, the Meadowmount School of Music, McDuffie Center for Strings, China's Shanghai and Chengdu Conservatories, the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. He is Artist-Faculty of the Montecito Music Festival, and Visiting Faculty of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, both in California.
Robert deMaine can be heard on the Naxos, Chandos, and Onyx record labels, and is a Thomastik-Infeld artist. He has performed on cellos made by Antonio Gragnani (Livorno, 1795), Raffaele and Antonio Gagliano (Naples, 1798), Jean Baptiste Vuillaume (Paris, 1841, "Le Conquérant"), and currently plays instruments by Domenico Busan (Venice, 1748), and Antonio Stradivari (Cremona, 1684, the 'General Kyd, ex-Leo Stern,' in the collection of the Los Angeles Philharmonic).
Compositions
DeMaine has written music for the cello which he regularly performs, including 2 concerti, and 12 Études-Caprices.[6]
References
- ↑ Campbell, R.M. (July 3, 2008). "Cellist returns for 'splendid, civilized time' at Seattle festival". seattlepi.com. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ↑ "Detroit Symphony Orchestra - Robert deMaine". Detroitsymphony.com. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ↑ "Distinguished Alumni". Meadowmount.com. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ↑ "Past Competition Winners". Kleincompetition.org. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ↑ "Detroit Symphony Orchestra - Violoncellos". Detroitsymphony.com. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ↑ "2005's Top 10". Palmbeachpost.com. Retrieved January 6, 2009.