John graduated from the University of Northwestern - St. Paul with a degree in Music Performance.  He has studied trombone privately with Dr. John Tranter, Rick Gaynor, and Dr. Jeremy Kolwinska, along with some lessons from Monte Mumford and Dave Graf and master classes with Doug Yeo, Tom Ashworth, and Doug Wright.  John studied piano privately with Karen Stiles, along with some classroom piano with Dr. Barbara Rogers.  John currently performs on trombone with Big Toe and the Jam, Century Brass, and Mike's Brass, and is a regular sub with many groups across a variety of genres. 

John has been teaching since 2011.  In addition to the David Thomas School of Music, he teaches in his own studio and for the University of Northwestern Academy of Music