John Gunther

John Gunther is a composer and multi-instrumentalist playing saxophones, clarinet and flute. With a restless musical spirit, he explores all forms of jazz from traditional to avant-garde, as well as classical music, world music and experimental electronic music. He has performed on stages throughout the U.S., South America, Africa and Europe. He has performed or recorded with jazz greats Ron Miles, Christian McBride, Bobby Watson, Larry Goldings, Tom Harrel, Dewey Redman, The Woody Herman Orchestra, and The Maria Schneider Orchestra, as well as guest solo appearances with the Sinfonietta Paris Chamber Orchestra, the Carpe Diem String Quartet and the Banda Nacional de Cartago in Costa Rica. As part of New York City's "downtown" music scene for many years, he produced five recordings for Creative Improvised Music Projects (CIMP).

John is a Professor and Director of the Thompson Jazz Studies Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received his BM at Berklee College of Music, an MM at the University of Miami, and a Ph.D. from New York University. In 2007, he founded the Boulder Laptop Orchestra [BLOrk] to explore the intersection of music, performance, art, and technology. His work with BLOrk has led to further collaboration with the STEM program at CU Boulder exploring informal science education through the arts. John's most recent recording with his European quartet, New West Quartet, is on the Fresh Sound Jazz label.

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