John Kennedy – String Orchestra
String Orchestra Director John Kennedy is excited to return for his twentieth year with the Oakland Youth Orchestras. He recently retired as Orchestra Director at North Farmington High School after a 30-year career teaching in the public schools. He is instructor of Bass and String Pedagogy at the University of Michigan Flint and Wayne State University, and has an active private studio of bass students.
John is internationally recognized as a bassist, clinician and teacher of young string bassists. He is Past-President and member of the board of the International Society of Bassists, the largest worldwide organization dedicated to the upright bass. He is also a veteran clinician at the Univ. of Michigan Bass Bash, the Golden Gate Bass Camp, the Richard Davis Workshop in Madison, Wisconsin, the Michigan Bass Fest, the Oberlin Bass Workshop and the Milt Hinton Bass Workshop. Mr. Kennedy is a regular performer with many local and regional orchestras. He was formerly Associate Principal Bass of the Honolulu Symphony, and has performed with the Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, Toledo, Kalamazoo, New Mexico, and Cedar Rapids symphonies.
As a composer and arranger, John has written dozens of works, both arrangements and original compositions, for youth orchestras and young bassists. He holds his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in String Bass Performance from the University of Michigan. He lives in Troy.