Bernadette John (Bearnáirdín Ní Sheáin) is a clarinetist based in Columbus, OH, where she is currently in her doctoral studies with Dr. Caroline Hartig at The Ohio State University as a University Fellow. She is a Fulbright Program alumna, during which she studied with Dr. Paul Roe at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and with Kieran Hanrahan and Odhrán Ó Casaide at Technical University Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.

 

John holds a master of music in music performance from Austin Peay State University, where she studied with Dr. Spencer Prewitt. At APSU, John co-founded The Fiddlin' Peayple, the on-campus folk music ensemble. She also holds bachelor of music in music performance and a bachelor of science in business administration from Bowling Green State University, where she studied clarinet with Mr. Kevin Schempf and Mr. Georg Klaas. 

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John enjoys performing as a freelance musician and has been featured on recitals, composer forums, and other professional concerts. John has performed under the baton of prestigious conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Kerem Hasan, Dr. Craig Jessop, Dr. Miriam Burns, and Dr. Kenneth Thompson.
 

In 2022, John was invited to perform as a Rising Artist at the International Clarinet Association's (ICA) ClarinetFest 2022 in Reno, NV. This performance included a presentation of two lesser-known clarinet works by Irish composers. She later performed as part of a headlining concert at the 2024 ClarinetFest in Dublin, Ireland, and also presented a lecture entitled Spásanna Nua that detailed her study during her time in the Fulbright Program. 

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In her free time, John enjoys Irish and American fiddling, singing seán-nos and studying the Irish language, photography, and rambling around the great outdoors.