John Abberger

Biography

John Abberger, one of North America’s leading performers on historical oboes, is principal oboist with Tafelmusik (Toronto) and the American Bach Soloists (San Francisco).  He has performed extensively in North America, Europe and the Far East with these ensembles, and appears regularly with other prominent period-instrument ensembles, including the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Washington Bach Consort, the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Voltaire, the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society, and Aston Magna.

A specialist in the performance of the music of J. S. Bach, his recordings of reconstructed oboe concertos and orchestral suites by this composer for the ANALEKTA label have received critical acclaim, and have been widely heard on radio broadcasts across Canada and the United States.  In addition, his recent recording of Bach Orchestral Suites in their original instrumentation is featured as “CD of the Month” in the September-October 2011 issue of the German music magazine Toccata-Alte Musik Akutell.

Mr. Abberger’s recording of the Concerto for Oboe by Alessandro Marcello (with Tafelmusik) was glowingly reviewed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the best there is” and “alone worth the price of the disc, even if you have other versions.”  He also records regularly with many of the above mentioned orchestras, and can be heard on numerous recordings on the ANALEKTA, Sony Classical Vivarte, Koch International, Harmonia Mundi, BMG Classics, Pro Arte, and Newport Classic labels.

Since 2007 Mr. Abberger has also been the director of  “The Bach Project” with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.  This project is a special initiative of the Orchestra to perform the vocal and instrumental works of J.S. Bach using historically appropriate performing forces.

Mr. Abberger serves on the faculty at the University of  Toronto, and the University of Western Ontario.  A native of Orlando, Florida, he received his training at the Juilliard School, and Louisiana State University. In addition, he holds a Performers Certificate in Early Music from New York University.