John was born in Lancashire and educated at Girton College, Cambridge and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
He has worked with numerous companies including: Kiel Opera House, Germany (Conductor and Rehearsal Pianist); Northern Ballet (Conductor and Rehearsal Pianist); Sheffield Symphony Orchestra (Artistic Director); Leeds College of Music (Opera Conductor); English National Ballet (Guest Conductor); Young Opera Venture (Musical Director); St. Peter’s Church, Harrogate (Director of Music).
For Northern Ballet he has worked on some twenty full-length productions including: Romeo & Juliet; Swan Lake; Madame Butterfly; I Got Rhythm; Beauty & the Beast; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Three Musketeers; The Nutcracker; Cleopatra; The Great Gatsby. He was the musical director for Northern Ballet’s children’s ballets Ugly Duckling, Three Little Pigs, Elves & the Shoemaker and composed the music for Goldilocks & the Three Bears.
Other ballet scores and opera arrangements include: Dorian; La Sylphide; Eugene Onegin; Hansel & Gretel (chamber versions); The Coronation of Poppaea.