John Rudolph joined the TSO as principal percussionist in 1997, after 21 years in the same position with the Vancouver Symphony and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra. John's early musical training was in Pennsylvania, where he studied with Alan Abel of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He received his bachelor and master of music degrees from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. where he performed and recorded with the National Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the U.S. Air Force Band. His teachers included Russell Hartenberger, Tony Ames, Jack Moore and Morris Lang. John was awarded a fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center and has participated in summer festivals at Temple University and Courtenay, B.C. He was a frequent performer at the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, and has appeared with Vancouver New Music, Masterpiece Music and Amici. As a soloist, John has performed with the Vancouver and Toronto Symphony Orchestras on several occasions, and has also appeared with the Edmonton Symphony, the Okanagan Symphony, the U.S. Air Force Band and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra. He has performed music for flute and percussion with his wife Kathleen in cities throughout North America from Whitehorse, Yukon to Orlando, Florida. John teaches timpani and percussion at the Faculty of Music of the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould Professional School of the Royal Conservatory. He is presently on the faculty of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and he coaches the percussion section of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra.