On the Modern Oboe John has been an active orchestral player and was principal/solo oboe of the leading North Island Chamber Orchestra Opus (from 1990 – 2004) and of Bach Musica NZ, New Zealand’s leading combined orchestral and choral performance group (2001 – 2004). As well he has played often as first oboe for many regional orchestras, choral societies and opera companies, mainly in New Zealand but also in Queensland and NSW, Australia. These include the Trust Waikato Symphony Orchestra, the St Matthews Chamber Orchestra, the Waikato Chamber Orchestra, Tauranga Symphony Orchestra, the New Plymouth Symphony Orchestra, Opera Waikato, the Hamilton Civic Choir, the Queensland Bach Society, the Suncoast Sinfonia, the Sunshine Coast Symphony, the Sunshine Coast Choral Society, Queensland Baroque, Hausmusik.com and the Murray Conservatorium Orchestra.
John has also performed frequently in recitals, chamber music ensembles and as concerto soloist, specialising in Baroque and Classical repertoire for solo oboe and oboe d'amore and attempting to achieve historically informed performances on modern instruments. As a chamber musician, he has performed throughout New Zealand’s North Island, as well as Australia & Germany, with pianists Cecilie McShane and Barry Barker, and with harpsichordists and organists Christopher Hainsworth and Rita Paczian. In the 1980s John founded and performed extensively with the Aulos Ensemble and Ludus, chamber groups specialising in trios, quartets and quintets utilising oboe, with strings/bassoon/horn and piano. Between 2004 and 2008 he performed throughout southern Queensland with the chamber ensemble Camerata Queensland. He has also been a member of various wind quintets, including New Zealand-based Eklekktika and the Hamilton (NZ) Wind Quintet.
Notable achievements as a concerto soloist have included NZ premieres of concertos by Vivaldi (RV 458) and Albinoni (Op 7, No 9) with the Opus Chamber Orchestra, the Heinichen Oboe d’amore Concerto with Bach Musica NZ, the reconstructed slow movement of Beethoven’s Oboe Concerto and the Australian premieres of Vivaldi’s Oboe Concerto in A Minor, RV 462, and the Heinichen Oboe d’amore Concerto Other career successes have been performances of oboe concertos by Albinoni, Bach, Cimarosa, Marcello, Vivaldi, Haydn/Malzat, the Salieri Flute & Oboe concerto, the Bach Violin & Oboe concerto, the Mozart and Haydn Sinfonia Concertantes, double concertos by Albinoni (2 oboes) & Vivaldi (2 oboes & oboe/bassoon) and the Telemann triple concerto for Oboe d’amore, Flute and Violin. He is an experienced oboe and oboe d’amore soloist in Bach’s works and has performed many of the cantatas, and major passions (St John Passion, Mass in b minor and Christmas Oratorio, etc).
John has also performed frequently in recitals, chamber music ensembles and as concerto soloist, specialising in Baroque and Classical repertoire for solo oboe and oboe d'amore and attempting to achieve historically informed performances on modern instruments. As a chamber musician, he has performed throughout New Zealand’s North Island, as well as Australia & Germany, with pianists Cecilie McShane and Barry Barker, and with harpsichordists and organists Christopher Hainsworth and Rita Paczian. In the 1980s John founded and performed extensively with the Aulos Ensemble and Ludus, chamber groups specialising in trios, quartets and quintets utilising oboe, with strings/bassoon/horn and piano. Between 2004 and 2008 he performed throughout southern Queensland with the chamber ensemble Camerata Queensland. He has also been a member of various wind quintets, including New Zealand-based Eklekktika and the Hamilton (NZ) Wind Quintet.
Notable achievements as a concerto soloist have included NZ premieres of concertos by Vivaldi (RV 458) and Albinoni (Op 7, No 9) with the Opus Chamber Orchestra, the Heinichen Oboe d’amore Concerto with Bach Musica NZ, the reconstructed slow movement of Beethoven’s Oboe Concerto and the Australian premieres of Vivaldi’s Oboe Concerto in A Minor, RV 462, and the Heinichen Oboe d’amore Concerto Other career successes have been performances of oboe concertos by Albinoni, Bach, Cimarosa, Marcello, Vivaldi, Haydn/Malzat, the Salieri Flute & Oboe concerto, the Bach Violin & Oboe concerto, the Mozart and Haydn Sinfonia Concertantes, double concertos by Albinoni (2 oboes) & Vivaldi (2 oboes & oboe/bassoon) and the Telemann triple concerto for Oboe d’amore, Flute and Violin. He is an experienced oboe and oboe d’amore soloist in Bach’s works and has performed many of the cantatas, and major passions (St John Passion, Mass in b minor and Christmas Oratorio, etc).
