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John Nelson

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Biography

The son of Protestant missionaries, American conductor John Nelson was born on December 6, 1941, in San José, Costa Rica. He began studying piano while living in Central America and continued those studies when his family moved back to the US and settled in Illinois. He attended the Juilliard School in New York from 1963 to 1967 to study conducting with Jean Morel and won the Irving Berlin Prize. He made his debut with the New York Chamber Orchestra and then conducted Berlioz's Les Troyens in a concert version at Carnegie Hall in 1972. He premiered Britten Owen’s Wingrave at the Santa Fe Opera before becoming musical director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (1976-1987). Appointed as the head of the Caramoor Festival in Katonah, New York, he was in charge of the Ensemble orchestral de Paris from 1998 to 2008. With a focus on Berlioz operas, he conducted Béatrice et Bénédict with the Opéra de Lyon Orchestra (1992), Te Deum with the Orchestre de Paris (2001), Benvenuto Cellini with the Orchestre national de France (2004), Les Troyens (2017) and La Damnation de Faust (2019) with the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra (2017) – both of which were awarded a Diapason d'or. He collaborated on the Arias album by Kathleen Battle and Itzhak Perlman (1992) and in recitals by Susan Graham, David Daniels, Stephanie Blythe and Vivica Genaux. In 2011, John Nelson initiated a long-term project, the Chicago Bach Project, with the American choral ensemble Soli Deo Gloria. After recording Harold in Italy with Timothy Ridout, Romeo and Juliet with Joyce DiDonato, and Handel's Messiah with Lucy Crowe and Michael Spyres, John Nelson died in Chicago on March 31, 2025, at the age of 83.
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Albums


Top Tracks

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    Popularity
  2.   Cantata, BWV 58 "Ach Gott, Wie Manches Herzeleid": Aria "Ich Bin Vergnügt in Meinem Leiden" (Soprano) featuring Itzhak Perlman
  3.   Cantata, BWV 97 "In Allen Meinen Taten": Aria "Ich Traue Seiner Gnaden" (Tenore) featuring Itzhak Perlman
  4.   Cantata, BWV 115 "Mache Dich, Mein Geist, Bereit": Aria "Bete, Bete Aber Auch Dabei" (Soprano) featuring Itzhak Perlman
  5.   Cantata, BWV 171 "Gott, Wie Dein Name, So Ist Auch Dein Ruhm": Aria "Jesus Soll Mein Erstes Wort" (Soprano) featuring Itzhak Perlman
  6.   Cantata No. 202 "Weichet Nur, Betrübte Schatten" (Wedding Cantata), BWV 202: 5. Aria: Wenn Die Frühlingslüfte Streichen featuring Itzhak Perlman
  7.   Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Act 1: "Una voce poco fa" (Rosina) featuring John Nelson
  8.   Totus Tuus, op. 60
  9.   Ich Bin Vergnügt Mit Meinem Glücke Cantata, BWV 84: 3. Aria: Ich Esse Mit Freuden Mein Weniges Brot featuring Itzhak Perlman
  10.   Let the Bright Seraphim from Samson, HWV 57 featuring Anthony Newman
  11.   Benvenuto Cellini, Act 2 - Quatrieme Tableau: Air - Mais, qu'ai-je donc? (Ascanio) featuring John Nelson
  12.   Andante adagio presto allegretto featuring John Nelson
  13.   Te Deum, Op. 22, H. 118: VI. "Judex crederis" featuring John Nelson
  14.   Te Deum, Op. 22, H. 118: V. "Te ergo quaesumus" featuring John Nelson
  15.   Te Deum, Op. 22, H. 118: III. "Dignare Domine" featuring John Nelson
  16.   Te Deum, Op. 22, H. 118: Prélude by John Nelson
  17.   Te Deum, Op. 22, H. 118: Marche pour la présentation aux drapeaux by John Nelson
  18.   Semele HWV 58: No more - I'll hear no more! / Awake Saturnia.. featuring English Chamber Orchestra
  19.   Semele HWV 58: Ah, wretched prince / Wing'd with our fears /O prodigy/See, see, Jove's Priests featuring Samuel Ramey
  20.   Te Deum, Op. 22, H. 118: II. "Tibi omnes" featuring John Nelson
  21.   Te Deum, Op. 22, H. 118: I. "Te Deum laudamus" featuring John Nelson
  22.   Béatrice et Bénédict, H. 138, Act 2: "Dieu ! Que viens-je d'entendre ?" (Béatrice) by John Nelson
  23.   Semele HWV 58: Alas! she yields, and has undone me featuring Marilyn Horne
  24.   Semele HWV 58: Thy aid, pronubial Juno, Athamas implores! featuring English Chamber Orchestra
  25.   Semele HWV 58: Again auspicious flashes rise featuring English Chamber Orchestra
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