John Quinn, a native of Philadelphia, began his musical studies at the age of 8, attending the Settlement Music School to study piano. By age 15, his attention shifted to the organ. It was in 1996 began a more disciplined study of the organ, privately, until attending Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey in January of 1999. During his time at Westminster, John studied Sacred Music, with concentrated study in organ and conducting. His teachers included Joseph Jackson and Mark Anderson (organ), and Dr. James Jordan and Dr. Andrew Megill (conducting).
John has performed as vocalist under the batons of noted conductors, Wolfgang Sawallisch (Philadelphia Orchestra), Zdenek Maçal (New Jersey Symphony), and twice with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the batons of Kurt Masur and Sir Colin Davis. As organist, John has appeared with the St. Joseph’s University Orchestra and Chorus in performance of Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Symphony No. 1 (`A Sea Symphony’). In January 2010 John became the resident organist for the Newark Symphony Orchestra and Chorus up until February 2014. As organ soloist, John appeared with the Newark Symphony Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Georg Frideric Händel’s Organ Concerto in F Major. John has also performed at various AGO sponsored events in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.
John has served many churches as organist, most recently serving as Associate Organist and Director of Handbells at Newark United Methodist Church in Newark, Delaware, where he was also Artistic Director of The First State Ringers. In September of 2015, John accepted the call as organist of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Phoenixville, PA. John is also a member of the Capital Ringers, based in Dover, DE.