At Madison Symphony, Everyone Is Home for the Holidays

DeMain rounds up his Madison Symphony Christmas community   For 26 years now, John DeMain has put together his “Madison Symphony Christmas” like a time-honored recipe, and it satisfies his guests’ expectations even as he tweaks it with a little bit different spice each time. It’s no mean trick — after all, you have to…

Olga Kern And DeMain Deliver Again

A touch of new(er) and old classics from Madison Symphony   If the opening concert of John DeMain’s 24th season with the Madison Symphony Orchestra eschewed a major guest soloist (a DeMain tradition—and not a bad one!), it also stayed far away from major warhorse repertoire. The first of three performances of the season’s second…

This Year DeMain Honors Two Traditions

Madison Symphony season opener suitably subtle   He hasn’t always done so in his previous twenty-three seasons as Music Director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, but in recent years John DeMain has made it a tradition to spotlight the orchestra itself in its season openers. He did so again Friday night in Overture Hall, and…