Departments
Voice / Opera Studies
Education
Piano Performance, Bachelor of Music (B.M.) - Peabody Conservatory
Piano Performance Master of Music (M.M.) - Peabody Conservatory
Piano Graduate Performance Diploma (G.P.D.) - Peabody Conservatory
Opera Fellowship
Ensembles
The San Francisco Symphony 2018-Present
The Marin Symphony Orchestra 2021- Present
Guest Principal Keyboard at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra 2023
Awards
First Prize at the 2019 International Respighi Prize
Two GRAMMY‑winning recordings of Meditations on Rilke and Adriana Mater by the San Francisco Symphony
First Prize at the the 2021 American Piano Competition
Courses Taught
Principal Vocal Coach
Q&A
What is your hometown?
Peckville, PA
What is your favorite recording?
Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, "Resurrection" San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas. One of the best performances of one of my favorite pieces, and this recording is vocally and instrumentally captivating from start to finish.
What are you passionate about outside of music?
Fitness and Cooking
Who were your major teachers?
Benjamin Pasternack, Marian Hahn, and Rita Sloan.
What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?
If we ask ourselves, "What do the notes want to do?" then the answer often presents itself.
What question do you wish students would ask sooner rather than later?
What is the area in which most improvement is needed?
What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?
The moment I touched a piano age 12, I decided to make it my life's passion and subsequently my career.
What was a turning point in your career?
The invitation to play Petrushka with San Francisco Symphony at Carnegie Hall in 2018 under MTT.
If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?
I'd be a chef.
What is your daily practice routine?
Practice as much as possible, and I enjoy every minute.
If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?
Mozart, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff
From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you?
In 1924 New York City, George Gershwin's groundbreaking premiere of "Rhapsody in Blue" holds deep personal significance for me, as it was the first piece I ever performed. This event redefined American music—a repertoire for which I have a particular fondness. I often draw from its innovative fusion of classical and jazz when coaching students on contemporary works.
What is your unrealized project?
I envision producing an album that celebrates three pivotal American composers across generations: George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and a contemporary figure. Drawing from their works for both piano with orchestra and voice, the project would blend instrumental and vocal interpretations to highlight the profound contributions of American artists to classical music. The label is to be determined.
What do you think makes a concert experience unique?
Music is meant to take the form of live performance, and a concert exists only in that moment in time. It will never exist in that form again. That uniqueness creates a transcendental connection between the composer, performer, and audience in that moment only.
What are your most important collaborations?
1. The San Francisco Symphony, with Frederica von Stade and Sasha Cooke for MTT's 80th Birthday Concert.
2. Philip Glass Piano Concerto No. 1 at Carnegie Hall with The Chamber Orchestra of New York.
3. The New World Symphony, when I performed the solo piano part for Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety," in a concert hosted by Bernstein's daughter Jamie and MTT.
What recordings can we hear you on?
Grace - The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas [Pentatone]
Saariaho: Adriana Mater - Esa Pekka Salonen [Deutsche Grammophon]
Rachmaninoff - Gershwin transcriptions by Earl Wild [Avie]
Upon Further Reflection [Avie]
Brahms, Schumann, Schubert [Delos],
Biography
John Wilson is a celebrated pianist and vocal coach renowned for his technical brilliance, profound musicality, and versatility, making him one of classical music's most sought-after collaborators. His career encompasses vocal coaching, solo performance, orchestral work, and acclaimed recordings. A two-time Grammy winner, Wilson's latest accolade came in 2024 as the San Francisco Symphony's orchestra keyboardist for Best Opera Recording on Deutsche Grammophon's Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater under Esa-Pekka Salonen. He also served as rehearsal and orchestra pianist for Peter Sellars' 2024 SFS production of Erwartung with soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams. His 2021 Grammy was for Meditations on Rilke with Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), Isabel Leonard, and Ryan McKinney. In January 2025, he released an art song album with Grammy-winning tenor Nicholas Phan featuring Schubert’s Auf dem Strom on Delos. A recording with Ben Jones of the songs of Michael Tilson Thomas was released in 2025.
Wilson's vocal collaborations span art song with artists like Frederica von Stade, Sasha Cooke, Susanna Phillips, and Julia Bullock, as well as baroque continuo under conductors Jeanette Sorrell and Bernard Labadie. His versatility extends to contemporary and popular music; at the New World Symphony (2015–2019), he collaborated closely with MTT, preparing Jessica Vosk for West Side Story and performing as jazz pianist for Audra McDonald. He has collaborated with icons including Bernadette Peters (twice), Cynthia Erivo, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Katharine McPhee, Jennifer Hudson, Ben Platt, Megan Hilty, Tony Yazbeck, Josh Groban, Michael Bolton, Darren Criss, and Celine Dion.
Operatic highlights include collaboration with Renée Fleming (West Side Story selections), Asmik Grigorian (Wozzeck), Measha Brueggergosman-Lee (Playthings of the Wind), and Simon O’Neill and Sasha Cooke (Das Lied von der Erde). Formerly répétiteur at Baltimore Lyric Opera until 2015, he later served as Guest Principal Keyboard for the Chicago Symphony under Riccardo Muti in 2023.
Wilson's recordings blend tradition and innovation: his 2022 Avie Records solo debut featured MTT’s Upon Further Reflection premiere, praised by Gramophone for its dynamic range. His recent Rachmaninoff & Gershwin: Transcriptions by Earl Wild album, exceeding one million streams, showcases his virtuosity in vocal-inspired repertoire. In 2024, concerto performances included Philip Glass's Piano Concerto No. 1 at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium with The Chamber Orchestra of New York. In 2024, he was the featured gala soloist for the Midsummer Mozart Festival. Wilson’s artistry has been recognized with First Prize at the 2019 International Respighi Prize, the 2021 American Competition, and the 2023 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award—the latter honoring exemplary performances of American music. Earlier milestones include a last‑minute triumph in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto at the Sun Valley Music Festival (described as “breathtakingly assured” by Idaho Press).
Additionally John is a pianist at the San Francisco Symphony, and the Principal Keyboard of Marin Symphony.