John Heard

John Heard is currently Professor of Bassoon and Chamber Music and Director of International Music Programs at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

John was born in Wareham, Massachusetts. He started playing the bassoon when he was a junior in high school. Up until that point he had played the clarinet.

John has a Bachelor of Music degree in Bassoon Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. He has a Master of Music degree in Bassoon Performance from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. John has studied with James Dickie of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, William Polisi of the New York Philharmonic, and Thom de Klerk of the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.

John had his first job as principal bassoonist of the Austin Symphony Orchestra from 1960-1964, when he was still a student at the University of Texas. He has also been the principal bassoonist for the Fresno Philharmonic, American Wind Symphony, and United States Marine Band and Orchestra. John was also a member of the San Antonio Symphony and has performed with the Houston Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the Saarbrucken Radio Orchestra in Germany.

John has devoted a major part of his career to administration. From 1970-1982, John was the Chairman of the Music Department at California State University, Fresno. From 1982-1985, he was the Chairman of the Music Department at the University of Rhode Island. Finally, from 1985-1997, he was the Chairman of the Music Department at Miami University. He then decided he would like to devote more time to bassoon performance.

In 1985, John founded the Miami Wind Quintet, a faculty ensemble at Miami University. He is a bassoonist for the group, and they perform 16-20 concerts per year. The group has played in 12 countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. He was a co-founder of the Echternach Festival Chamber Orchestra of Luxembourg in 1991 in which he performs annually as principal bassoonist.

John has been a featured soloist at annual International Double Reed Society conferences in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002. He travels frequently to South Korea where he performs in a variety of formats including soloist with orchestras, recital soloist, and in chamber music settings with Korean musicians. Upcoming performances in Korea in the spring of 2005 with mark his 18th performance visit to Korea since 1997. In another international role, John is the Artistic Director of the annual Festival Internacional de Musica de Camara, Colonia Tovar, Venezuela. Beyond that, in recent years, John has presented many international master classes, including the Prague Conservatory, Prague Academy of Music, Kromeriz Conservatory (Czech Republic), Luxembourg Conservatory, Seoul National University, Chon Nam University (Korea), Kyung Buk University (Korea), Taegu Bassoon Society (Korea) Bassoon Camp, Simon Bolivar Conservatory (Venezuela), and the Montreal Conservatory.

In 2002, John recorded the Mozart Bassoon Concerto and concertos by Neruda and Pichl with the National Chamber Orchestra of Ukraine, "Camerata Kiev," released on the Kleos label of Helicon Records. This summer, with the same orchestra, he will record the two F Major bassoon concertos of Franz Danzi, and the Vanhal Concerto for Two Bassoons (with a Kiev bassoonist), also to be released on the Kleos label. Additional recordings include the Quartets for Bassoon and Strings, Op. 46, No. 1 and 2 by Franz Krommer and Grand Quintent for Bassoon and Strings by Anton Reicha (Mastersound Records); Telemann "Concerto a Six," with the Echternach Festival Chamber Orchestra (ProNova); and other recordings on the Antest, Helicon Classics, IMP Carlton Classics, and Everest labels.

John enjoys gardening and traveling in his free time. He enjoys music of all styles and his favorite composer is usually the composer whose work he is playing at the moment. After 20 years of balancing performance, teaching, and administrative roles, he has found much pleasure in relief from administrative duties, thus allowing more time for more enjoyable musical activities. John thinks that young bassoonists who want to be successful should expect to have to work harder than they think they will have to work.