Though Brian DeMaris has risen to some of the greatest heights in the classical music world as an associate conductor at New York City Opera, he has no trouble remembering his humble introduction to classical music on a school bus in Akron.

"I think our bus driver would put on classical music in the hope that it would help to keep the little kids on the bus calm," DeMaris said in a telephone interview from his home in New York City. "For me, though, it had a big impact because I just fell in love with the sound ... and when my parents gave me my first CD player, I asked for CDs from Mozart and Tchaikovsky, which, amazingly enough, I still have."

Nowadays, DeMaris, 27, conducts operas in New York City by the likes of Gilbert & Sullivan and George Frideric Handel, but he hasn't forgotten his roots. DeMaris, an Ephrata High School grad, returns to Ephrata today with his critically acclaimed Alpha Omega Ensemble to perform cantatas by Vivaldi, Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach at Ephrata Main Theatre in Brossman Business Complex. The concert, presented by Ephrata Area Community Theater, begins at 2 p.m.

He will be joined by fellow New York musicians and Ephrata grads Kristen Callahan, a freelance trumpeter, and Emily and Amy Martin, both violinists. Also joining them will be Ephrata grad Kara Miller, who works in Bloomington, Ind., as a cellist.

The concert also features vocalists Zachary Poholek (bass), Donald Groves (tenor), Alissa Anderson (mezzo-soprano), Amanda DeMaris (soprano), Teresa Eickel (soprano), Joshua Bouchard (bass), Veronica Chapman Smith (soprano), Corey Bix (tenor) and Jason Abrams (countertenor).

A little 'Patience'
At Ephrata High School, DeMaris focused much of his time on musical theater, even helping to conduct shows at nearby Ephrata Performing Arts Center, including productions of "Assassins" and "Sunday in the Park with George."

After high school, he went to Ithaca (N.Y.) College, where he found his opportunities to work in musical theater were extremely limited.

"Musical theater is unbelievably competitive at Ithaca, and with so few opportunities, I found myself drifting over into opera," DeMaris said. "I had a teacher there at Ithaca who was connected with Glimmerglass (a world-renowned summer opera festival held in Cooperstown, N.Y.), and it was my connection with Glimmerglass which eventually helped me land a position with New York City Opera."

After finishing his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, DeMaris eventually settled in New York, where in the fall of 2005, he was given his first opportunity with New York City Opera as assistant conductor on the Gilbert & Sullivan opera "Patience." He was recommended for the job by contacts he made during his days at Glimmerglass.

Since then, he has worked on three shows for New York City Opera, including Handel's "Flavio," Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" and, his personal favorite, the New York debut of "The Little Prince" by British-born film composer Rachel Portman, who has scored films such as "Cider House Rules," "Chocolat," "Beloved," "Benny & Joon" and "The Joy Luck Club."

"'The Little Prince' is a gorgeous piece and a first-rate opera. Plus, it's wonderful to work with something so contemporary," DeMaris said. "But my favorite part was that it brought so many kids into the theater and helped expose them to the world of opera."

Sacred and secular
In 2006, DeMaris helped to found the Alpha Omega Ensemble, a touring oratorio society that travels the country performing sacred and secular music.

"I was involved in performing a concert with some friends at St. Bartholomew's Cathedral (in New York) as part of the church's Great Music series, and a bunch of us started thinking, 'Hey, we're having so much fun, what if we formed a group?'" DeMaris recalled.

"I've always had a love of Bach's cantatas," he said, "and it seemed to me that it would be really something if we could bring them before a lay audience, particularly to, say, churches that don't usually have cantatas performed."

The program the group is performing today, he said, will feature well-known works from the Baroque period in Europe, including Bach cantatas 196, "Der Herr denket an uns," and 147, "Herz und Mut und Tat und Leben." The concert also includes one of Handel's rarely performed sacred cantatas, "Il Pianto di Maria," featuring countertenor Abrams, plus a Vivaldi cantata.

DeMaris is currently preparing to spend a semester as interim director of opera at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. At the same time, he's trying to decide if he wants to continue to call New York City home.

"I love living in New York City. Everything I need is here, and there are so many opportunities for creative people here. Plus I'm so close to my family back home in Lancaster County," he said. "However, I got married in September, and there's now a wife in the mix, and so we're trying to decide if we really want to stay here, or else go someplace and settle down."

Regardless of where he ultimately finds himself in the world of opera, DeMaris will always call Lancaster County home.

"My mom still lives in Lititz, and I keep in touch," DeMaris said. "I even worked for Ephrata Community Theater when I was in seventh grade, when they graciously let me play the piano for them in rehearsals for their production of 'A Christmas Carol.'

"It's been a little while since I graduated from Ephrata High School in 1998, and a lot has happened since then, but it's going to be nice to come back home."

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The Alpha Omega Ensemble will perform at 2 p.m. today at Ephrata Main Theatre in Brossman Business Complex, 124 E. Main St., Ephrata. Tickets cost $12, and a reception will follow the program. For more information, or to reserve tickets, call 733-2228.