John Wustman

American classical pianist, accompanist.

John Wustman was born in Byron Center, MI, on December 25, 1930. He studied music at the University of Michigan with John Kollen and in New York with Leonard Shure. In his early years Wustman worked in New York as the accompanist for the Robert Shaw Chorale and for the American Opera Society. He was pianist for the rehearsals of the American Opera Society's presentation of Bellini's II Pirata that occurred in Carnegie Hall in 1959. No less an artist than Maria Callas was featured in that presentation and Mr. Wustman would later serve as a member of the jury at the Fourth International Tschaikowsky Competition in Moscow with Mme. Callas. During this time he traveled abroad under the aegis of the Fulbright Commission and also the United States State Department teaching master classes in German Lieder in Uruguay, Peru, and Argentina. He has appeared in the leading concert halls of five continents with some of the greatest singers from the second half of this century: names such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Birgit Nilsson, Régine Crespin, Christa Ludwig, Nicolai Gedda, Carlo Bergonzi, Luciano Pavarotti and a host of others.

Since 1968, Mr. Wustman has been Professor of Music at the University of Illinois where he founded the vocal coaching and accompanying program in 1973.