A native of suburban Detroit, John Covach began playing guitar in local rock bands at age 12. After graduating Livonia's Stevenson High School, Covach attended Schoolcraft College and Wayne State University before transferring to The University of Michigan School of Music, where he earned bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in music theory and composition. John was also a Fulbright scholar, studying the history of twelve-tone music in Vienna, Austria. During his years at Michigan, John remained active as a performer of both rock and classical music, performing works by composers such as George Crumb and Pierre Boulez with Michigan's Contemporary Directions Ensemble while working regularly with top bands in the Metro Detroit area.
John studied classical guitar primarily with Jack Moncrief and Matthew Mischakoff (master classes with Robert Guthrie, Manuel Lopez-Ramos, Michael Lorimer, Juan Mercadal, David Russell, and John Holmquist), and composition with Robert Jones, James Hartway, Steve Rouse, George Wilson, William Bolcom, and Fred Lerdahl. In the late 1980s, John led the guitar program at Interlochen, both at the Arts Academy and at the annual summer music camp.
After graduating from Michigan, John taught music theory at The University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, The University of North Texas, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His students now teach in top music programs such as those at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Utah, and CUNY, among others. With the 2005-2006 academic year, John returned to Rochester to accept a joint appointment as Professor of Music at the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music. He also currently serves as Chair of the College Music Department at UR.
John is considered an expert in the history of twelve-tone music, as well as in the history and analysis of rock music, and he has published a long list of articles and book chapters on these topics. His university-level textbook on the history of rock music was published in March 2006 by W.W. Norton and Company. As a rock historian, John has lectured across the US and in Europe, and has been the focus of feature stories in newspapers and magazines, as well as on radio and television. His weekly radio show, Radio Rock, debuted in May 2006 on WRUR-FM.
John Covach has performed widely on electric and classical guitar in both the US and Europe over the past two decades, including a performance with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at New York's famous Carnegie Hall. Most recently, John has been working on a series of CDs devoted to his own music, while also playing lead guitar and recording with the progressive-rock band Land of Chocolate as well as with his Rochester-based bands, The Smooth Talkers, Going for the One, Heroes for Ghosts, and The Waiting Room.
