John Roy MacDonald is a musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 who plays the French horn

Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....

 and has won several major competitions.

He was born on July 13, 1948 in Gimli, Manitoba

Gimli, Manitoba

Gimli is a a rural municipality located in the Interlake region of south-central Manitoba, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. It is about north of the provincial capital Winnipeg...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. His family moved to Ottawa three years after his birth. He was influenced by his horn-playing

Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....

 elder brothers, Ian and James  and began studying the horn at twelve. He studied at the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 with Eugene Rittich

Eugene Rittich

Eugene Rittich was a Canadian musician who taught horn, chamber music, conducting and ensemble master classes and seminars for over 30 years in Canada, the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand...

 and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1970. With a stipend from the Canada Council

Canada Council

The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...

 of Arts and having won the Talent Competition of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

, he furthered his studies in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 with Barry Tuckwell

Barry Tuckwell

Barry Emmanuel Tuckwell AC, OBE , is an Australian horn player who has spent most of his professional life in the United Kingdom and the United States.- Early life and education :...

 and then in Brno

Brno

Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

, Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 with Prof. Frantisek Solc

Frantisek Solc

František Šolc was Czech French hornist and horn teacher.- Life :He was born in Přerov on 25 June 1920. He grew up in a musical environment; his father was a music director of the local city orchestra. In 1935 Šolc enrolled voluntarily in a military music school in Prague...

 at the Janáček Academy

Janácek Academy of Music and Performing Arts

Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts is a university-level school in Brno in the Czech Republic.The Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts is one of two academies of music and the dramatic arts in the Czech Republic...

. In 1971 he won the silver medal at the International Competition in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 and in 1974 the first prize at the Prague Spring International Music Competition. In 1978 he won the ARD International Music Competition

ARD International Music Competition

The ARD International Music Competition is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is held once a year in Munich.-History:...

 of the German Broadcasting Union in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

.

After early experience as first horn with the Hamilton Philharmonic as well as extensive experience free-lancing in Toronto, from 1972 to 1975 he was first horn with the Bamberg

Bamberg

Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...

 Symphony Orchestra in Germany. Since 1976 he has been principal solo horn in the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, with which he has recorded all the symphonic works of Mahler, Bruckner, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and Berlioz. He also performs and records solo, and in chamber ensembles, conducts master classes, and freelances with other symphony orchestras around the world.

John MacDonald plays Engelbert Schmid

Engelbert Schmid

Engelbert Schmid is a classical musician and horn maker.After playing with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, solo-horn with the Munich Radio Orchestra for ten years,...

horns. He resides in Germany but has recently acquired and expanded a seasonal residence in Canada.

External links

• Personal website of John MacDonald http://www.johnmacdonald.de