Conductor JOHN GENNARO DEVLIN is currently in his sixth season as music director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra (WSO). In 2023, he was named a recipient of the Georg Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award for his work there, and honored by Wheeling’s Mayor Glenn F. Elliott with the Mayor’s Award for “distinguished service, loyalty, and dedication to our city.”
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, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, among others, and the American Repertory Ballet. Of his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra and violin soloist Joshua Bell, Anne Midgette of The Washington Post wrote that Devlin “led the evening with flair … and was visibly in his element.”
Devlin has premiered and/or commissioned over 50 new American works. His artistic partnerships with contemporary American composers include a two decades-long relationship with Eric Nathan, from whom he has commissioned works that he performed at Carnegie Hall and with the National Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, Devlin commissioned and premiered Evan Meier’s work Migrations in Rhythm in collaboration with multi-faceted hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon.
From 2015-2018 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, accompanying the NSO on its historic 2018 tour of Russia. 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. He earned undergraduate degrees in Clarinet Performance and Latin from Emory University as a Robert W. Woodruff Scholar, graduating summa cum laude. His professional career has been shaped by his time as an assistant to conductors Gianandrea Noseda, Christoph Eschenbach, Rossen Milanov, and Victoria Gau.
johndevlinmusic.com