[James DePreist (b. 1936)]
AfriClassical.com announces a complete revision of its page on James DePreist, the world-famous African American Conductor who is Director of Conducting & Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School in New York City. Maestro DePreist was born in Philadelphia in 1936 and is the nephew of the renowned contralto Marian Anderson. He contracted polio while in Bangkok on a tour for the U.S. State Department, yet his recovery was swift and he won First Prize in an International Conducting Competition a short time later.
Leonard Bernstein appointed James DePreist as an Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic for the 1965-66 season. A performance in the Dutch city of Rotterdam in 1969 was his European debut. In 1971 Antal Dorati appointed him Associate Conductor of the National Philharmonic. DePreist has published two books of poetry, The Distant Siren (1989) and This Precipice Garden (1990). Maestro DePreist has been Music Director of L'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Mälmo Symphony in Sweden, and the Oregon Symphony, where his tenure extended 23 years. It was there he made 15 of his 50 recordings.
Music Critic James Reel wrote a cover article on the conductor's career for Fanfare Magazine, Nov.-Dec., 1995. He quoted James DePreist on the subject of recording: “Recording for me is absolutely essential. What we do as musicians normally evaporates as soon as it's created. That's the nature of concerts.” Columbia University awarded Maestro DePreist the 2000 Ditson Conducting Award, in large part on the basis of his support of American composers.
DePreist's involvement with the Conducting & Orchestral Studies Program at the Juilliard School began in 1987. He was appointed Director of the Program in 2004. From 2005-2008, James DePreist was Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra as well. He conducted the recording for which percussionist Niel DePonte was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award, for “Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra.”
Maestro DePreist received the National Medal of Arts in 2005, and the University of Pennsylvania's “Creative Spirit Award” in 2009. Friends and supporters commissioned a bronze bust of James DePreist from sculptor Rip Caswell. The conductor has made My Country, a 1-hour documentary on Disability Rights which is distributed free by the Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice. One of his most enduring contributions as a conductor is his addition of many more works of American composers to the repertoire of classical performances and recordings. Maestro DePreist is scheduled to conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra in the opening work of the "Marian Anderson Award Gala" on April 6, 2010.
AfriClassical.com: James DePreistAfrican American Conductor
Juilliard School
Director of Conducting
Orchestral Studies
American Repertoire
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