John Hennecken (b. 1987) is an American composer and educator based in Athens, Georgia. He has written over 40 works for diverse media, including: orchestra, symphonic band, chamber groups, and electronics. His music has been performed throughout the United States and in France, by ensembles such as Wet Ink and New Ear, as well as the Redshift Saxophone Quartet, Georgia Southern Symphony, Georgia College Concert Band, Mercer-Macon Symphony Youth Orchestra, Lakeside High School Wind Ensemble, and the European American Musical Alliance Chorale.
John has composed several recently commissioned works for brass players. His Brass Quintet, written for Maureen Horgan, was the co-winner of the 2012 Southeastern Composers League Philip Slates Memorial Composition Contest. His Sonata for Trumpet and Piano, written for Brandon Craswell, was performed at universities across the southeast in 2012, and will be performed again in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the 2013 International Trumpet Guild Conference. In April, John’s Sonata for Trombone and Piano was premiered by Matt Walley at Rutgers University, and his new Sonata for Horn and Percussion will be premiered by Corey Klein in Ghent, Belgium, this coming May.
John holds a master’s degree from the University of Georgia, where he studied with Leonard V. Ball, Jr. He earned his undergraduate degree from Georgia College where he studied with Douglas O’Grady. In the summer of 2012, John studied with David Conte at La Schola Cantorum in Paris, France, at the European American Musical Alliance summer program, which continues the pedagogical tradition of Nadia Boulanger.
John is currently a doctoral composition student at the University of Georgia, where he studies with Adrian P. Childs and Leonard V. Ball, Jr. He teaches aural skills as a graduate assistant, and also serves as the composition and theory instructor with the UGA Community Music School. John was recently Composer in Residence at Georgia College, where he was commissioned to compose a new work for wind ensemble by GC Director of Bands, Cliff Towner, along with a consortium of ten other high schools and colleges in Georgia, Ohio, and Nebraska. He was also a 2013 American Prize Semifinalist in the chamber music and choral divisions. (Current as of 4/28/2013).