

# Event Details

- **Event Name**: John DeMain: WORKING WITH MY HEROES
- **Event Start and End Date**: Tue, 24 Mar, 2026 at 06:00 pm (-05:00)
- **Event Description**: *Note: earlier start time*

A Grammy and Tony Award–winning conductor, John DeMain has been a fixture of Madison, Wisconsin, for more than three decades, serving as music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of the Madison Opera. Before and since then, he has been an internationally recognized conductor, equally at home in the worlds of classical music, opera, and Broadway.

In Working with My Heroes, written with the late Greg Hettmansberger, DeMain recounts incredible experiences—from his days studying piano in Youngstown, Ohio, to his years as an undergraduate and graduate student at Julliard, to his early jobs in summer stock productions, to numerous acclaimed productions—without ever losing sight of the wonder and awe he felt as a young musician first learning his way in the world. With warmth and humor, he provides valuable insight into the business of music making, while also sharing behind-the-scenes stories of entertaining situations he found himself in throughout the years—from playing piano at a gangster’s wedding to an unexpected dressing room encounter with a Broadway star to conducting an opera with circus elephants.

DeMain has had many career-defining moments behind the podium, conducting world premieres of Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place, John Adams’s Nixon in China, and Jeanine Tesoro’s Blue, as well as the U.S. premiere of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, among others. He guest-conducted symphonies and operas in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. DeMain cemented his reputation with the 1976 Houston Grand Opera performances of George and Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, establishing its stature as a quintessentially American opera. The singers, musicians, and composers DeMain has worked with over the past six decades are a veritable Who’s Who of American classical music. This memoir places readers by his side, allowing them to experience all the wonders and joy of a life spent making music.

In conversation with Gayle Worland.

https://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/events/working-my-heroes-life-music
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/madison/john-demain-working-with-my-heroes/200029812539943
- **Event Categories**: Music, Entertainment, Art
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 0

## Ticket Details

- **Ticket URL**: http://facebook.com/200029812539943?utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=madison-events

## Event venue details

- **city**: Madison
- **state**: WI
- **country**: United States
- **location**: 201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53703
- **lat**: 43.07359
- **long**: -89.38752
- **full address**: 201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53703

## Event Organizer details

- **affiliate_id**: 2
- **organizer**: Wisconsin Book Festival (https://allevents.in/org/wisconsin-book-festival/13274464)

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: banner
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events8/banners/e20a0a59907e0cbf18f3616505f07ecc479a1193ad0a39557211c9ca47f18a22-rimg-w1200-h628-dcfffffe-gmir?v=1773552162
- **Alt text**: thumbnail
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events8/banners/9ad1da426e9cd72aab7025f3ef58c4384415182ed5da7d9bdb796c1581489121-rimg-w300-h300-dc7ab256-gmir?v=1773552163

## FAQs

- **Q**: When is the event happening?
  - **A:** Tue, 24 Mar, 2026 at 06:00 pm (-05:00)
- **Q**: Where is the event happening?
  - **A:** 201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53703
- **Q**: Who is organizing the event?
  - **A:** Wisconsin Book Festival
- **Q**: What type of event is this?
  - **A:** Music, Entertainment, Art
- **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about John DeMain: WORKING WITH MY HEROES ?
  - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents.

## Structured Data (JSON-LD)

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