John Heard, Professor Emeritus, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, has a career as a performer, teacher and administrator. He has held appointments as chairman and professor in the music departments of California State University, Fresno; the University of Rhode Island;  and Miami University. John has also taught bassoon at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

John has served as principal bassoonist with the Austin Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Echternach Festival Orchestra of Luxembourg, “the President’s Own” United States Marine Band, and the American Wind Symphony. He has also performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Saarbrucken Radio Orchestra. He founded and performed for 22 years as bassoonist in the internationally recognized Miami Wind Quintet. John has been a guest bassoonist with chamber ensembles from the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Kiev Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the Athens National Opera Orchestra (Greece). He has been a soloist with the Echternach Festival Orchestra, Camerata Kiev (Ukraine), Guayaquil Symphony (Ecuador), Mokpo Philharmonic (Korea), Fresno Philharmonic, Newport Chamber Orchestra (RI), Chonju Chamber Orchestra (Korea), Bremerton Symphony (WA), and the San Luis Obispo Symphony (CA).

John has presented master classes and solo recitals at many American universities as well as at leading music schools in the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Ecuador, Venezuela, South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Canada.  He is a co-founder of the Echternach Festival Orchestra of Luxembourg and served for several years as Artistic Director of the Festival Internacional de Musica de Camara, Colonia Tovar, Venezuela.   His students have achieved national and international recognition through touring and competitions, including several first prize awards in national competitions, and many of them are in symphony orchestras throughout the world.

He has recorded on the Kleos, Helicon, IMP Carlton Classics, ProNova, Mastersound, Antes, and Irida labels, the most recent being several Helicon discs featuring bassoon concerto performances with Camerata Kiev, the National Chamber Orchestra of Ukraine, Alexander Ostrowski conducting. An American Record Guide review of one of those recordings states “John Heard hails from the faculty of Miami University in Ohio, but judging from this recording he should be hailing from the Vienna Philharmonic. This is quality bassoon playing by any standard: lustrous tone, unfaltering technique, and intense communicative skill.” John’s now resides in the mountains of western North Carolina. He plays regularly with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra (TN). His instrument is a Fox Model 601.