John McCarthyʼs life in music includes that of pianist, distinguished pedagogue, arts administrator and educational consultant.

McCarthy has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony in Davies Symphony Hall and at the Ojai Festival with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. The John and Annamarie McCarthy Piano Duo has presented numerous performances at Stanford University, the Bracebridge Concerts at Yosemite National Park, and CAMI (Columbia Artist Management Hall) in New York City. McCarthyʼs many involvements in contemporary music include first performances of works by Gerard Grisey and Frederic Rzewski, as well as recording for Composer Recording Society.

McCarthy relocated from the East Coast to accept a full scholarship from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. After graduation, he was immediately appointed to the faculty, a position he has held since 1972. Principal teachers include Cecilia Gniewek Brauer and Martin Canin in New York, Katja Andy in Boston, Bernard Abramowitsch, Robert Helps, Thomas LaRatta, and Milton & Peggy Salkind in San Francisco.

An award-winning teacher of long experience, John McCarthy is widely recognized as one of today’s leading pedagogues. In 2006, he was one of three teachers of classical music to receive a Distinguished Teacher Award from the Department of Education and the White House Committee on Presidential Scholars in the Arts, at a ceremony in Washington D.C. In 2013, he again received this honor, which acknowledged his “substantial contributions to the development of our nation’s young people.” His students have appeared as concerto soloists with the Philharmonia Baroque, Royal Scottish National Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, California Symphony, and with several youth orchestras, including San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and California Youth Symphony. They have performed at the Gewandhaus in Germany, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, and on the nationally televised “From the Top at Carnegie Hall.”

McCarthyʼs students have received numerous awards, including a Davidson Fellowship, and three students have been named Presidential Scholars in the Arts. They have received first prizes at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, the Scottish International Piano Competition, Stravinsky International Piano Competition, the International Bach Competition in Wurzburg, the Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition in New York City, the Corpus Christi and Lennox International Young Artist Competitions in Texas, and competitions in Ukraine and Armenia. Six students have been named winners by the National YoungArts Award Foundation.