In Tuesday’s (7/12) Detroit News, Lawrence B. Johnson writes, “The question of whether he would play again with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has clung to the absent figure of cellist Robert deMaine since the long strike ended in April. In an interview as far-ranging as the four continents on which he has performed in the last year, deMaine said he will return for another season. But not for the entire season. Beyond that, it seems a world of options has opened, and deMaine hopes to pursue at least some of them. ‘During the strike, once I started saying yes to all the things I used to have to refuse, the phone really started ringing,’ says deMaine. … ‘I still enjoy orchestra playing, but I don’t plan to do just that for the rest of my career.’ DeMaine joined the DSO in the middle of the 2004-05 season. … Next season, deMaine will be in his customary spot with the DSO for all the concerts conducted by music director Leonard Slatkin and a few more. At season’s end, he will record John Williams’ new Cello Concerto with Slatkin and the DSO. But the wider world beckons. He’s been playing chamber music with violinist Hilary Hahn, and he’s the cellist in an active string quartet headed by his longtime friend, violinist James Ehnes.”
Posted July 12, 2011
