Remembering John Nelson

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family joins the music world in mourning the loss of American conductor John Nelson, who died March 31, 2025. He was 83.

Nelson was born in San José, Costa Rica — the son of American Protestant missionaries — on December 6, 1941, and later studied at Wheaton College and the Juilliard School. He held posts with the Greenwich Philharmonia in Connecticut, New Jersey Pro Arte Chorale, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Caramoor Festival, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and as artistic director of Solo Dei Gloria.

In March 1972 Nelson made his opera debut in New York City at Carnegie Hall in a performance of Berlioz’s Les Troyens with the Pro Arte Festival Chorus and Orchestra. In 1973, while a member of the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera, the same work was the vehicle of his house debut, as an emergency substitute for Rafael Kubelík with only a day’s notice.

For Deutsche Grammophon, he led the English Chamber Orchestra and Ambrosian Opera Chorus along with featured soloists John Aler, Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Horne, Sylvia McNair and Samuel Ramey in Handel’s Semele. The release won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

Under the auspices of Solo Dei Gloria in April 1994, he prepared the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus for a performance of a cappella works by Henryk Górecki at Saint Mary of the Angels Church in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood. The works were recorded by Nonesuch. 

A complete list of John Nelson’s appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus is below.

December 13 and 14, 1973, Orchestra Hall
December 17, 1973, Uihlein Hall, Milwaukee
IVES The Unanswered Question
STRAVINSKY Petrushka
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Op. 60

July 22, 1993, Ravinia Festival
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, D. 485
STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83
André Watts, piano

July 23, 1993, Ravinia Festival
BERLIOZ Selections from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 17
DONIZETTI Selections from The Daughter of the Regiment
Kathleen Battle, soprano
PREVIN Honey and Rue
Kathleen Battle, soprano
BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

July 27, 1993, Kresge Auditorium, Interlochen Center for the Arts
SCHUBERT Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, D. 485
STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird
BERLIOZ Love Scene from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 17
BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

April 24, 1994, Saint Mary of the Angels Church, Chicago
GÓRECKI Euntes ibant et flebant, Op. 32
GÓRECKI Amen, Op. 35
GÓRECKI Miserere, Op. 32
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Margaret Hillis, director
Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus
Donald Palumbo, director

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