John was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where he lived for 30 years.  His grandmother was his first teacher from the age of 4 until he was 15 years old.  He could sight-read proficiently by age 6, and held his first church piano accompanist job at age 12, playing hymns and accompanying various church musicians.

 

At the age of 15 he started taking lessons with Dr. George Cherry, a professor at Baldwin-Wallace College. Soon after John entered the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of music, at age 16, where he earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in performance, graduating magna cum laude with minors in organ and history, while at the same time working as a church organist, piano teacher, and accompanist.

 

After graduating, he taught privately and worked as a performing musician in the Cleveland area for several years.   Then John entered a Master’s Program in piano performance at Cleveland State University, studying piano under the guidance of Andreas Kuprevicius. At the same time, John taught all 9 levels of the Cleveland State University ear-training program and provided accompanying services for the voice faculty and the Motet Chamber Choir.

 

John then entered a Doctoral Program in Inter-Disciplinary Humanities Studies at Syracuse University with an emphasis in 19th- century Music and Art History.   At Syracuse he taught music history classes at the undergraduate level and accompanied vocal and theater arts students in the school’s music department. This completed his formal education.  John moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1991 looking for teaching and performing opportunities, and has taught and performed in Bay Area ever since at various music schools, such as the Community Music Center in San Francisco and the Community School for Music and the Arts in Mountain View, and performing in various venues in the area both as a soloist and accompanist.   He enjoys reading, philosophy, history of ideas, languages, traveling, hiking, swimming, gardening, and investigating the many cultural amenities of the Bay Area.