Biography

    Performer, educator, conductor and clinician John Gruber is Assistant Professor of Trombone at the Oberlin Conservatory. Dr. Gruber is also Principal Trombonist of the Akron Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he has held tenured positions in the Youngstown Symphony, the Lansing Symphony and the Adrian Symphony. As a substitute musician, he has performed with a multitude of ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony, the Canton Symphony, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, and the Brass Band of Battle Creek.

According to Cleveland Classical, John's "assertive playing and wonderfully mellow tone cut through the work’s undulating, uneven rhythms in the orchestra" in a recent performance of George Walker's Trombone Concerto with the Akron Symphony. Other recent solo performances include Launy Grondahl's Trombone Concerto with the Oberlin Orchestra, Adolphus Hailstork's new work Monuments with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, and a solo performance at the 2024 American Trombone Workshop. John was the national winner of the 2010 Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Brass Competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  He has performed as a soloist at the International Trombone Festival in both 2019 and 2023. He also performs frequently as a recitalist and as a chamber musician.

    As an educator, he has held positions at The Ohio State University and Siena Heights University.  Previously, he has held teaching positions with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Youth Ensembles and the Barnesville Exempted Village School District, where he served as Director of Bands. John has also served on the faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and the Oklahoma Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain.

    John is a native of Bowling Green, Ohio, where he earned his B.M.E. in Instrumental Music Education from Bowling Green State University.  He holds both an M.M. and a D.M.A. in Trombone Performance from the University of Michigan. John’s teachers include David Jackson, William Mathis, Dan Saygers, Michael Haithcock, and Garth Simmons.