John Steinmetz
1951
Present
John Steinmetz teaches bassoon and chamber music at UCLA. As a Los Angels freelance bassoonist, he played everything from Tristan und Isolde to Jurassic Park, from Beethoven symphonies to Family Guy, from Bach’s B-Minor Mass to Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels. He played with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Oregon Bach Festival, Camerata Pacifica, XTET, and festivals including Moab, Skaneateles, Las Vegas, the Colorado Music Festival, and Chamber Music Northwest. He toured with LA Chamber Orchestra, Mladi Wind Quintet, Camerata Pacifica, and the Bill Douglas Trio. He recorded soundtracks for Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, John Williams, Randy Newman, Danny Elfman, Michael Giacchino, Shirley Walker, and many others. He made classical recordings with the Oregon Bach Festival, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Winds, and LA Philharmonic, and with XTET he recorded Donald Crockett’s Extant for bassoon and chamber ensemble. He premiered works by Arvo Pärt, Don Davis, Arthur Jarvinen, Billy Childs, Kryzstof Penderecki, and other composers, and he premiered his own bassoon concerto with the Santa Rosa Symphony. In 2016 he retired from playing to focus on composing and teaching.