Niel DePonte has gained a national reputation as one of his generation's most versatile musical artists. He is the Music Director and Conductor for Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT) and the Artistic Director of the Young Artists Concerto Competition in Portland, OR. He was a 2003 Grammy Award nominee in the category of Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra for his performance of the Concerto for Marimba by Tomas Svoboda, with James DePreist and the Oregon Symphony on Albany Records.
As President of MetroArts Inc, a non-profit arts education organization founded by Mr. DePonte in 1993, he has done considerable research on the use of the arts for teaching cognitive strategies in the classroom. Dr. Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor in Cognition and Education at Harvard University has written, “As a person who has worked for decades in the area of arts education, I can attest that there are few individuals with Niel’s combination of talents, and literally only a handful who are devoting their lives to the education of young individuals.” The MetroArts Kids Camp, having just completed its twentieth season, takes place at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts each July. He regularly collaborates with the education department of the Oregon Symphony and the Right Brain Initiative in bringing his curriculum for integrating music with core curricular subjects and consults with school districts across Oregon.
Mr. DePonte was born in New York City and received his training at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he earned a Master of Music degree and the Performer's Certificate. He holds a certificate from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, Professional Development Seminar, The Project Zero Classroom, and a degree in music education from the State University of New York college at Fredonia.