Conductor JOHN GENNARO DEVLIN is music director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra (WSO) as well as the recently appointed music director of the Lancaster (OH) Festival Orchestra.
For his work with the WSO, he received West Virginia Governor’s Award for Resiliency in the Arts in 2022, and was named a recipient of the 2023 Georg Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award. Also in 2023, Devlin was honored by Wheeling’s mayor, Glenn F. Elliott, with the Mayor’s Award.
Devlin’s artistry and versatility make him a frequent guest conductor with major orchestras across the nation. He has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Symphony Orchestra, and Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, among others, and the American Repertory Ballet.
Devlin has recent or upcoming performances with many significant American soloists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Time for Three, Chris Thile, Joshua Roman, Stefan Jackiw, Tessa Lark, and Maxim Lando, among others. A lover of all things Broadway, he has collaborated with Sutton Foster, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sierra Boggess, Hugh Panaro, Scarlett Strallen, Capathia Jenkins, Morgan James, Dee Roscioli, Christiane Noll, and Ryan Shaw.
From 2015 to 2018, Devlin apprenticed with some of the world’s best conductors, soloists, and orchestras while based in Washington, D.C. He was the exclusive cover conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra, where he served as assistant to world-renowned Music Directors Christoph Eschenbach and Gianandrea Noseda. He served concurrently as the assistant conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey, working alongside Music Director Rossen Milanov.
Devlin completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in orchestral conducting under the tutelage of James Ross at the University of Maryland School of Music. As an undergraduate, Devlin attended Emory University, earning degrees in Clarinet Performance and Latin. His professional career has been shaped by his time as an assistant to conductors Gianandrea Noseda, Christoph Eschenbach, Rossen Milanov, and Victoria Gau.