My Biography
I was principal flute with the Melrose Symphony Orchestra from 2004-2014. I also played flute for the Franklin Performing Arts Company for their musicals The Wizard of Oz (2005), Cinderella (2006), Into the Woods (2007), Les Miserables (2013), Peter Pan (2014), Fiddler on the Roof (2016), Beauty & the Beast (2017) and second flute/piccolo for their annual Nutcracker production until 2020.
I teach flute privately and taught at Northeastern University until 2020. I was Visiting Instructor of Flute at the University of Massachusetts - Boston for the summer semester 2000 and during the fall, 2003, and visiting Flute Professor at Rhode Island College for the spring 2007 semester. I am Assistant Director, Winds for the Composer Conference at Wellesley College, and enjoyed coaching chamber ensembles for the Conference as a Commuter Coach during their 2005, 2007, and 2008 sessions. My past performances page lists my concert appearances, programs and program notes.
My undergraduate studies were at Lawrence University, where I worked with Fred Schroeder and got a double degree in Flute Performance and Slavic Literature. My Master of Music degree in Flute Performance is from the Stony Brook University, where I studied with Samuel Baron. My Doctor of Musical Arts degree is from the Manhattan School of Music, New York City. I studied there with Thomas Nyfenger. Other flute study includes work with Robert Dick, Henry Zlotnik, and Bernard Goldberg. For three summers I studied in Nice, France with Andras Adorjan and I have also participated in masterclasses with Robert Aitken (Banff, Canada), Jeanne Baxtresser (Banff, Canada), and Eleanor Lawrence (Chatham, MA). I received a Masters of Science degree in Library Science from Simmons College.
For six years I was President of the Pappoutsakis Memorial Fund, which presents the annual Pappoutsakis Flute Competition, and now serve on their Honorary Board of Directors. I was the founding Secretary/Treasurer of the Greater Boston Flute Association and served on their advisory board. From 2003-2006 I translated and wrote abstracts of Russian music periodicals for Harmonie Park Press. (I never dreamed when I got those two undergraduate degrees that I would ever be able to use them together!) I have also translated Nicolai Tcherepnin's memoirs for the Tcherepnin Society (2008) and submitted articles on the Tcherepnins and Samuel Baron for Andras Adorjan's Flutists' Lexicon (2008). In 2017 I served as a member of the National Flute Aassociation Masterclass Performers Committee.
In the years John worked with me, he has proven
himself to be a sensitive, intelligent, musician with great ability
on the flute. Mr. Ranck's musical approach reveals his personal
maturity and commitment to growth. John Ranck has real musical
contributions to make and very much deserves to be heard.
Robert Dick
I have known John Ranck for the past two years
during which time he studied flute with me.
He was well advanced when he came to me and showed lots of natural
talent and application.
I consider him to be an accomplished flutist now, who shows much
promise of becoming a first rate artist.
Outside of his music he seems to be very well informed and possessed
of a pleasing personality.
Henry Zlotnik (1982)
