Episode #10: John Rowehl

Trained in classical piano from the age of seven and a competition-winning pianist as a teenager, John originally matriculated at Cornell as a Ph.D. student in Philosophy. His performance focus is on choral conducting, and his dissertation—a project in applied bio-musicology—examines how our ideas about performance change when we take seriously the latest findings in the neurophysiology of music and the growing body of evidence that music is hardwired into us humans, in part because of the role it plays in creating and nurturing community.

John has been heard as a baritone soloist in the Fingerlakes Bach Festival and with New York State Baroque. He also enjoys working with singers from the keyboard, as a vocal coach and collaborative pianist. In 2014, John became a Certified Yoga Teacher. After enduring 29 winters in the Northeast, John came to his senses and moved home to Hawaiʻi, where he works as Director of Music & Organist at Keawalaʻi Congregational Church, as Executive Director of the Maui Chamber Orchestra, and as a voice teacher in Kūpono Music Studio.