John has the unique distinction of being a fluent virtuoso on both the Bansuri (bamboo flute) and Western flute. He is truly a World musician having played and studied Western classical and jazz as well as Eastern music in Europe and Asia. Today he performs in a variety of contexts and has played with many renowned musicians including Paul Horn, Victor Wooten, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Howard Levy, Paul McCandless, Jack DeJohnette and many others. He has performed at Universities and Festivals worldwide including The Smithsonian Institute, the German Embassy and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Rotterdam Conservatory in Holland; Naitauba, Fiji; Calcutta and Madras in India; Berlin, Germany; California State University and the Universities of Michigan, Nebraska and Kansas.

Flutist – Composer – Visionary – Workshop Leader - Instructor

John began his musical training in Norwalk Connecticut where he grew up. Beginning as a vocalist, John studied guitar and piano before establishing western flute as his main instrument by the time he was 14. John studied classical western flute with Kim Haley from Juilliard school of music and composition from Darius Brubeck.

At 15 John's interest in jazz led him to study at Berklee college of music in Boston Massachusetts for a summer session. By 16 John enrolled as a full time student a Maharishi International University (MIU) where John continued to study flute and composition. Also at that time John studied western classical flute techniques with Roger Mather, professor at the University of Iowa. While a student at MIU John led several groups including "Prakriti" and the "Welcome" band who played with Paul Horn during a concert in 1978.

During the 1980's John moved to Washington DC where he began to study South Indian vocal music with Raju Soundararajan and Usha Char while he continued to play jazz and world music. In 1988 John began studies on the Bansuri (bamboo flute) with Debu Banerjee and North Indian music with Debu Chaudhuri. In 1990 John furthered his study on the Bansuri with Vijay Rhagav Rao. In 1992 John traveled to India for more studies of Indian music and it was there that he met Hariprasad Chaurasia. John did intensive studies with Hariprasad in India over a two year period and in 1995 enrolled in the Rotterdam world music program for North Indian music led by Hariprasad Chaurasia.

Simultaneously John continued a musical life in Washington DC while continuing North Indian vocal training with A K Das Gupta. In 1997 John released the CD "Facing East" which is a collection of original compositions that has gained much acclaim for it's unique east/west blend. Many tours with Facing East have followed including performances with Jack DeJohnette, Victor Wooten, Paul McCandless, Howard Levy, Subhash Chandran, Ganesh Kumar,Bhajan Sopori and others. A highly acclaimed tour of India took place in January/February of 2000 and in December 2000 the CD "Bansuri Dreams" was released. Today John continues to play all over the world and has many new projects taking place. His last two recordings “facing Beloved” and “Sacred Offering” were released in 2003 and 2004.

John's Story in his words ....

I've always felt that music is a doorway to the Divine or a way for us to get out of our normal consciousness and into greater truth, light and love. I remember as a child being awestruck in church at the great power and Divinity of music. I felt that the people up there talking didn't really radiate the truth but the music was saying it !! Fortunately by the time I was 14 years old I was deeply touched by many of the greats in Western classical music (especially Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Debussy) and was involved as a jazz player and inspired by Cotrane , Miles, Weather Report, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Oregon,Paul Horn and others. Around that time I was also blown away at the power and spiritual depth of Indian music. My high school library had one Indian music record "Ravi Shankar Live at Monterey Pop festival" I must have listened to that record hundreds of times. Simultaneous to these musical discoveries was a spiritual crisis I felt at 13 years old, that everyone is crazy and people are just controlled by ego patterns. I did think that someone must know what is going on and has gone beyond these patterns. I came across the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Parmahansa Yogananda and was inspired by the ancient teachings of India. I took up Transcendental Meditation and met Maharishi Mahash Yogi and decided to attend Maharishi International University. All the time I was playing music of all types and had now evolved into western flute as my main instrument.

Around 18 years old I had the idea of learning Bansuri (the traditional bamboo flute used in Indian music) but was unable to find a teacher, so instead I studied vocal music with some South Indian teachers. By the time I was 30 I was able to come across some very good Bansuri teachers and by 32 decided I should just go to India to fully learn the instrument. There I met Hariprasad Chaurasia and began studies with him and really felt I was finding the voice I was looking for. I also took the time to compose music I was hearing which became my first CD "Facing East".

During trips to India I delved deeper into my spiritual search and visited many ashrams and gurus. I was most impressed by the teachings and transmission of Ramana Maharshi a sage in southern India who passed away in the 1950s. Recently I've been blessed to come to into the influence of World teacher Avatar Adi Da Samraj and feel his wisdom deeply enliven the core of my being to the truth that always was and is. Stay tuned for the unfolding of it all and enjoy this website, hope it leads you to some bliss, truth and light.

All blessings" .......John