John Lawson Webber--a biography

John Lawson Webber was born in Seattle, Washington. At the age of five he began piano lessons; in the following years he also studied conducting, viola, and oboe. He graduated summa cum laude from Whitman College , where he received a soloist`s diploma and the prize for the outstanding senior recital. He studied piano and conducting with José Rambaldi ; while at Whitman he conducted The Magic Flute and the muscial Pal Joey .

After receiving his degree from Whitman he continued his musical studies with a Master of Music from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music , where he studied conducting with Teri Murai and piano with Santos Ojeda ; he served as an assistant for several productions and conducted Monteverdi`s Combattimento .

From June 1982 until May 1988 he worked as principal coach/accompanist and assistant conductor at Seattle Opera , where he learned a large repertoire and worked with outstanding singers and conductors. During this time he also served as visiting assistant professor at the Evergreen State College in Olympia.

In July 1988 Webber moved to Germany, which has the greatest density of opera houses in the world. He started as coach/accompanist and assistant conductor in Hagen , where he conducted his first performances in Germany, and moved in 1990 to the State Theater of the Saarland in Saarbrücken , where he continued his success as a conductor with numerous performances.

From 1993 to 1999 Webber was resident conductor and associate musical director of the opera house in Halberstadt , a regional theater which gives many performances in the states Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, as well as in almost all parts of Germany. In this time he conducted more than 370 performances, ranging from opera and operetta to musicals and concerts. The operas he has conducted include Carmen , The Pearl Fishers , Tosca , Rigoletto , The Abduction from the Seraglio , Don Giovanni , The Elixir of Love , and many more. In August 1999 he ended his association with the theater in Halberstadt, increasing his availability for other conducting engagements.

In January 1997 Webber made his American professional conducting debut at Arizona Opera with a production of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos . The enormous success he had resulted in an immediate return engagement to conduct Tosca in Arizona in March 1998, as well as Die Fledermaus in November 1998.

In April 2000 he began a career as a software developer for Jentro Technologies GmbH in Munich; in 2007 he became Director of Software Development, later VP Engineering and General Manager. Since January 2011 he's Head of Software Development and Procurist at DENT-iV GmbH in Grüwald near Munich. Music remains an important part of his life; Webber is an active member of the Munich Pianists' Club , where he has appeared as piano accompanist, conductor, and soloist. Webber is married to the German mezzo-soprano Anja Securius.