John McGlinn, Conductor & Musical Archivist Passes Away

Various reports have indicated the sad news that American conductor and musical theatre archivist John McGlinn passed away today, Saturday February 14th, 2009.

There is not at present any other details regarding his death, but we will update as more information becomes available.

He was one of the principal proponents of making authentic studio cast recordings of classic musical theatre works. 

McGlinn was the music director for the off-Broadway productions of Jerome Kern's SITTING PRETTY (1989) and THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE (1990). John McGlinn was active in the recording studio in the 1980's and his complete recordings of Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein's SHOW BOAT and Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES are considered to be the definitive representations of those productions.

John McGlinn made his operatic debut in 1993 conducting for the Juilliard Opera Theatre. He made his New York City Opera debut in 1996.

For many years he was active in the restoration and recording of American stage works, recording with such artists as Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson, Ruth Ann Swenson, Teresa Stratas, Jerry Hadley and Roberta Peters, and recorded Fieber with Ian Bostridge and the orchestra of NDR Hannover. He has performed and recorded with the London Sinfonietta, the London Symphony, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Bologna Opera, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic and the BBC Concert Orchestra, among many others.