Robert deMaine, cello

A first-prizewinner in many national and international competitions, Mr. deMaine became, in 1990, the first cellist ever to win the Grand Prize at San Francisco's Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings. As soloist, he has collaborated with conductors Neeme Jarvi, Peter Oundjian, Joseph Silverstein, and Leonard Slatkin, among many others, and has performed virtually all of the major cello concerto repertoire with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he has been Principal Cellist since 2002. Mr. deMaine has also served as a guest principal in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Robert deMaine counts among his chamber-music partners violinists James Ehnes, Hilary Hahn, Gil Shaham, Ani and Ida Kavafian, pianists Emanuel Ax, Andrew Armstrong, Orion Weiss, William Wolfram, and Yefim Bronfman, and has appeared at many international music festivals, including those of Marlboro, Aspen, Heidelberg, San Miguel de Allende, Montreal, and Seattle. He is also the cellist of four newly-established chamber groups:  The Chroma Piano Trio, Trio21, Icarus (Flute, Cello, Piano), and the Ehnes Quartet.

A dedicated teacher, Mr. deMaine has presented masterclasses throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is a regular guest of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. He has also taught at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan.

Also a composer, Robert deMaine has written many works for the cello, including Twelve Etudes-Caprices, which he performs regularly. Several important composers have written large-scale works for him, including Chris Theofanidis, Joel Eric Suben, and Jeffrey Mumford.

Soon to be released are two recordings by deMaine on Dorian/Sono Luminus:  a recital disc featuring works by Rachmaninov, Fauré, and Grieg with the pianist Andrew Armstrong, and the Haydn Cello Concertos with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.