John Thorne, Associate Professor of Flute
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. 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 and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. 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, New World Symphony, 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.
Jennifer Gunn, Lecturer
Hailed for her “virtuosic poise” and as “a dazzling piccolo virtuoso”, Jennifer M Gunn was appointed to the position of Piccolo of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Maestro Daniel Barenboim in 2005. Since joining the CSO, she has been active in many areas of the organization including the MusicNow Series, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Dream Out Loud Music Education Advocacy Campaign, the Once Upon a Symphony series, CSO Chamber series, and has accompanied Maestro Muti on multiple occasions to the Chicago Juvenile Centers.
Equally at home on the flute or the piccolo, Jennifer has been featured as a soloist with the orchestra on many occasions. She made her flute solo debut under the direction of Ludovic Morlot on the orchestra’s MusicNow series playing Shirish Korde’s Nesting Cranes in 2007. One year later she made her piccolo debut under the direction of Harry Bicket playing Vivaldi’s C Major Concerto RV443 on the CSO’s subscription series. Jennifer has also been featured as a flutist on Bach’s Brandeneburg Concerti with her CSO colleagues under the direction of both Nicholas Kraemer and Pinchas Zukerman. In March of 2019, Jennifer will be featured as piccolo soloist under the direction of Music Director Maestro Muti playing Vivaldi’s C major Concerto RV444 and also playing the CSO premiere of Ken Benshoof’s Concerto in Three Movements for Piccolo and Orchestra.
Jennifer has enjoyed many occasions to join musician colleagues from the Chicago area and around the world. In the chicagoland area, she has been a guest with the Bach Week, Dempster Pro Musica, Music of the Baroque, and the Civitas Ensemble. Outside of Chicago, Jennifer has enjoyed collaborating with musician friends at music festivals such as the Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, KS, Buzzards Bay Music Festival in Marion, MA, Arizona Music Festival in Scottsdale, AZ, and the St. Barth’s Music Festival in St. Barthelemy, French West Indies. She can also be heard on recordings of music by composers Mason Bates, Anna Clyne, and Victoria Bond as well CSO orchestra recordings on the CSO Resound Label.
In demand as a clinician, Jennifer has taught masterclasses around the world including a regular summer class at Orford Musique in Canada, guest artist at the 2018 International Piccolo Festival in Grado, Italy. She is a frequent guest at University’s around the country teaching flute and piccolo masterclasses including classes at Carnegie Hall, Univeristy of Texas Butler school of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Missouri- Kansas City, and Northwestern University. Jennifer has also been involved as an orchestral coach with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the National Youth Symphony (NYO), and the New World Symphony.
Jennifer has held previous orchestra positions including Assistant Principal Flute of the Louisville Orchestra, Principal Flute of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and Second Flute of the Wheeling Symphony. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University (PA), where she studied with Robert Langevin and Rhian Kenny. She had additional studies at the University of Akron (OH) with George Pope and Mary Kay Robinson.
Jennifer is married to Jonathan Gunn, Professor of Clarinet at University of Texas Butler School of Music. She joins the faculty of the Bienen School at Northwestern University in the fall of 2019 as a part-time Lecturer in piccolo studies.
Alyce Johnson, Lecturer
Alyce Johnson is a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Grant Park Symphony, Music of the Baroque Orchestra and the Chicago Philharmonic. She joined the DePaul School of Music flute faculty in 2012 and will join the faculty of the Bienen School at Northwestern in the Fall of 2019 as part-time Lecturer in piccolo studies.
Ms. Johnson began her professional career as the principal flutist of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, a position which she won at the age of 23. After four years in the orchestra, she left Shanghai to become a member of the New World Symphony Orchestra for one season which included tours to Rome and Carnegie Hall. Ms. Johnson was a winner of the New World Symphony concerto competition and performed Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp. Other solo appearances have been with the Chicago Philharmonic, Bach Week Festival, Shanghai Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, and the New Eastman Symphony Orchestra.
Alyce Johnson received both her Master’s Degree and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music and earned her Bachelor of Music degree with distinction at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has participated in various summer festivals including the Tanglewood Music Festival, Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music Festival. Ms. Johnson has adjudicated various National Flute Association competitions and has been featured in recital at the NFA’s annual flute conventions.