John Thorne

John Thorne is an Associate Professor of Flute at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. He joined the Bienen School faculty after having been the Associate Principal Flute of the Houston Symphony from 1992 until 2012. Previously, he has held the position of Principal Flute with the San Antonio Symphony and the Florida West Coast Symphony (now called the Sarasota Orchestra). He started his career as a member of the inaugural season of the New World Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

Mr. Thorne received his Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was a student of Julius Baker, former Principal Flute of the New York Philharmonic, and John Krell, former Piccolo player of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mr. Thorne has also studied privately with Anne Diener Zentner, former Principal Flute of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He received his Master of Music from Michigan State University, where he was part of the Halyburton Wind Quintet in residence at the College of Music.

Since joining the faculty of the Bienen School of Music, Mr. Thorne has appeared as soloist with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in Joel Puckett’s The Shadow of Sirius and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. The Shadow of Sirius performance was webcast live and is archived on the Pick-Staiger, Davee Video Library. He has also performed Bach’s b minor Suite with the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Thorne has appeared as a soloist with the Houston Symphony on numerous occasions, performing concertos by C.P.E. Bach and Vivaldi. As part of a concert featuring the Associate Principal winds of the Houston Symphony, he performed Frank Martin’s Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments. He has also performed as soloist with the orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s Halil.

As an orchestral musician in Chicago, Mr. Thorne is a substitute flutist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He also performs with the Chicago Philharmonic as principal flutist. As a chamber musician, Mr. Thorne has performed with the Bach Week Festival in Chicago, the Chicago Wind Quintet, the Civitas Ensemble, Da Camera of Houston, Dempster Street Pro Musica, the Florida Wind Quintet, the Greenbriar Consortium (organized by Houston Symphony members), MusicNOW (the contemporary music series of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), the Texas Music Festival, and the Winter Chamber Music Festival at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on the Northwestern campus. He performs recitals in the Bienen School’s Galvin Recital Hall each season and was a frequent recitalist in the Houston area, performing with Scott Holshouser, Principal Keyboardist of the Houston Symphony, at Rice University, the University of Houston, and as part of the chamber music series at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston.

Mr. Thorne has given masterclasses and recitals for the ARIA International Summer Academy, Austin Flute Club, Boston Flute Academy, Boston University, Cleveland Institute of Music, Dana Flute Festival, DePaul University, Eastman School of Music, Greater Indianapolis Flute Club, Houston Flute Club, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Rice University, The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, Texas A&M University in Commerce, Texas Flute Festival, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Northern Iowa, University of Utah, and the Wisconsin Flute Festival. He has also served on juries for The National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition, The National Flute Association’s Orchestral Audition Masterclass Competition, the Myrna Brown Artist Competition, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Donna Marie Haire Young Artist Competition, and the Houston Flute Club’s Byron Hester Competition.