John Winstead is an internationally renowned oboe soloist, orchestral musician, electronic music specialist, recording artist, composer and teacher. He has been heard throughout Europe, Asia and North America. In addition to being a soloist he has played principal oboe in many world renowned orchestras with conductors such as: John Williams, Sir Neville Marriner, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kenneth Cooper, Gustavo Dudamel, Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. Currently he plays as principal oboe of the Mesquite Symphony. In 2012 He was choosen as a fellow of
the Berlin Philharmonic Carnegie Hall master class series where he worked with Albrecht Mayer. Later that year he was a Prize winner of the 2012 Pasadena Showcase House of the Arts solo instrumental competition in Los Angeles. John was chosen as principal oboe of the Castleton festival Opera orchestra under Lorin Maazel in 2013. John is also the first undergraduate oboist of the prestigious Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles; where he studied with Allan Vogel under a full endowment scholarship. That same year John played at the Aspen Music Festival under Robert Spano and David Robertson. In collaboration with the Los Angeles Opera Company and the Colburn Conservatory, John played in very well-received productions of Benjamin Britten's 'The Rape of Lucretia' and Viktor Ullmann's 'Der Kaiser Von Atlantis' under the artistic leadership of James Conlon. As a composer, he studied with George Crumb at the Bowdoin Music Festival in 2008 as well as served as principal oboe at the festival. He has studied with many of the world's leading oboists including Allan Vogel, Richard Woodhams, Elaine Douvas, Robert Botti, Nicholas Daniel and Albrecht Mayer.