Born in Texas, John received his Master of Music degree in Cello Performance and Music History from Temple University.  He is proud to have been a student of Orlando Cole of the Curtis String Quartet at both Temple University and at The New School of Music in Philadelphia.  He also studied music at the University of the South, and business administration at Loyola University of New Orleans.  After spending 18 years in the cello section of the New Orleans Symphony, he now resides in Pittsburgh with his wife, Caroline.

He is personnel manager of the McKeesport Symphony and the Beaver Valley Philharmonic and principal cello for both organizations.  In addition John is also contractor and personnel manager for musical productions at the Pittsburgh Public Theater.  He also runs “Strings Attached,” a music contracting business for chamber music, orchestras and ensembles for churches and universities. He is orchestra contractor for CAMI and Nashville Sounds for touring companies requiring orchestras in western Pennsylvania.  While living in New Orleans he was orchestra contractor for the New Orleans Opera and the New Orleans Ballet Orchestras.

John can be found playing with the Wheeling, Westmoreland, Canton, Youngstown, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras.  He also plays with the Mendelssohn Choir Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Pittsburgh Musical Theater, Broadway show tours in Pittsburgh, and other musical events at Heinz Hall, the Bendedum Center, and The Byham Theater in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.  He is also an active teacher, maintaining a class of private students in the Pittsburgh area.

Besides playing the cello John is Adjunct Professor of Music at Penn State University’s Beaver Campus and at the Community College of Allegheny County, where he teaches degree required courses on the Evolution of Jazz, Introduction to World Music, and the History of Western Music.  He is very involved with Penn State activities, leading groups of students attending concerts and other cultural events in the Pittsburgh Cultural District.  Each fall he leads a student group on a cultural trip to New York City where they tour Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Smithsonian’s Native American Museum in Lower Manhattan.  John had the honor of representing the President of Temple University at Robert Morris University’s Presidential Inauguration Ceremonies in 2007.

John has been Principal Cello of the Bergen Philharmonic (Norway), the ORF (Austrian Radio Orchestra Carinthia), Grand Teton Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, and the NHMF Pops Orchestra.  He has also performed as a member of European orchestras; the Kiel Philharmonic, the Kiel Opera House Orchestra, the ORF (Austrian Radio Orchestra), Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Austria), the RTV Slovenian Radio/TV Symphony (Ljubliana, Slovenia).  John appeared on Saturday Night Live – “Live from the Mardi Gras” on NBC backing up Randy Newman in 1978, now available on DVD.  He has appeared with rock and pop musicians such as Page & Plant, Doc Severenson, Della Reese, Peter Nero, Crystal Gale, The Irish Tenors, Smokey Joe Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Ray Charles, Anthony Newley, Mitch Miller, Yul Brynner, Roberta Peters, Dave Brubeck, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Peggy Lee, Nancy Wilson, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Mannheim Steamroller, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

John has performed at music festivals both in the USA and Europe including the Grand Teton Music Festival, Garrett Lakes Music Festival (Deep Creek, Maryland), Temple University Music Festival & Institute, Taos Summer Music Festival, Vermont Music & Arts Center, New Hampshire Music & Arts Center, and the Flagstaff Summer Music & Arts Festival.  In Europe he has performed at the Bordeaux, Montreux, Lucerne, Vienna Festwochen, Carinthian Spring, Zagreb, and Mannheim Festivals.  He has performed under the baton of Raymond Leppard, Werner Torkanowsky, Maxim Shostakovich, Aaron Copland, Philippe Entremont, Leonard Slatkin, Paul Polivnick, Mistislav Rostropovich, Aldo Cecatto, William Smith, Gunther Herbig, Ivan Fischer, and Zdenek Macal.

During the summers Caroline and he divide their time between Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and New Hampshire.  In July & August since 1999 John has been performing as a member of the cello section of the New Hampshire Music Festival, located at the edge of the White Mountains near Lake Winnipesaukee and Squam Lake.   Recently John and Caroline celebrated their 34^th wedding anniversary.