Since Chicago Magazine first described his nascent ensemble, Opera Cabal, as “Chicago’s most daring and avant-garde opera company” in 2008, Nicholas DeMaison has continued to prove himself as one of the most capable conductor/composers in the young generation of multi-talented musicians working to reimagine classical institutions and genres.    In recent seasons he has led highly praised premiere operatic productions of Pauline Oliveros’ "The Nubian Word for Flowers", Nathan Davis’ "Hagoromo", Mikael Karlsson’s "The Echo Drift", Mojiao Wang’s "Encounter", James Ilgenfritz’s "The Ticket That Exploded", Charles Fussell’s "The Astronaut’s Tale", and of newly commissioned orchestral works by Miya Masaoka, Zach Layton, Erica Ball, Eli Greenhoe and others. The US premiere of his arrangement of Milhaud’s "La Mère Coupable" by OnSite Opera & ICE was lauded as “a natural fit”.   In 2013, he was invited to create a new orchestral, choral and chamber music program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, and in that context has had the opportunity to build a comprehensive performance program from the ground up combining a classical pedagogy with a forward-looking embrace of technology and performance practice, and to collaborate regularly with the world-renowned Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC).

The Rensselaer Orchestra is the orchestra of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, situated within the Department of Arts. Comprised of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the five schools of Rensselaer, the group is dedicated to the performance of great literature for the orchestra, drawing repertoire from the dawn of the ensemble to the present, regularly premiering new and experimental works for orchestra. The group makes its performing home in the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), Troy, NY, and is currently under the direction of Nicholas DeMaison.