Biography
John J. South, a native of Huntsville, Alabama, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Liberal Arts focus, with a minor in history. He earned a Master’s degree in orchestral conducting at Western Kentucky University in 2023. He began piano lessons at age 5, classical guitar at age 7, and trumpet at age 10. As a performer, John played trumpet in the Huntsville Youth Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Joseph Lee for nine years, and served as a collegiate trumpet intern at the Tennessee Valley Music Festival in 2016 and 2017. He was also a member of the UAH Wind Ensemble under Dr. David Ragsdale for seven semesters, and studied trumpet with Dr. Carolyn Sanders. Although having maintained a lifelong interest in conducting, John turned his attention to it completely after losing his ability to play trumpet due to focal dystonia, with which he was diagnosed just before starting college, and causing him to retire from trumpet playing after graduation. Ever since that experience, he has made it a goal to spread dystonia awareness and encourage further research in both the musical and medical communities.
As a conductor, John has been passionate about helping to enrich his local community. In 2017, he added a Summer Orchestra program to UAH’s existing Summer Band. He has conducted in both the band and orchestral programs, which consist of UAH students and musicians from the community. John has also conducted the UAH Wind Ensemble, and in 2019, he became a member of the artistic team of Opera Huntsville. He served as music director for Cosi fan Tutte in March 2020, Gilbert & Sullivan in Rocket City in April 2021, and Die Fledermaus in May 2023. For Gilbert & Sullivan, he transcribed five Gilbert & Sullivan pieces for reduced orchestration, including the show’s overture. John also served as Assistant Conductor of the WKU Symphony Orchestra from 2021 to 2023, and the Bowling Green Youth Orchestra in 2022.
John is also an avid historian and amateur astronomer, and has combined these interests to form a unique, diverse brand of musicology. In 2018, his essay “An Art Corrupted: Classical Music and Musicians in the Third Reich” was published in UAHuntsville’s Perpetua Journal of Undergraduate Research. He has contributed two biographical sports articles, “Willie McCovey” and “Terrell Owens,” to the Alabama Humanities Foundation’s Encyclopedia of Alabama. He has also researched and written about film music, and the relationship between music and astronomy, from both a historical and scientific perspective.
As a conductor, he has been mentored and influenced by Dr. David Ragsdale, Dr. Brian St. John, Joseph Lee, Erin Huelskamp-Bohn, and Gregory Vajda. As an instrumentalist, his mentors include Dr. Carolyn Sanders and Bruce Zeiger (trumpet), Ingrid von Spakovsky-Weaver (piano), and Phil Weaver (classical guitar).
Aside from music, John’s hobbies and interests include telescope astronomy, baseball, gaming, and writing, and he is a self-described root beer enthusiast. He currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.