John McColley

adjunct professor, harp

John McColley grew up wandering the halls and fields of USF, where his parents met, and is honored to join such a prestigious list of faculty and storied school of music as adjunct professor of harp in the Fall of 2024. John has helped establish the Tampa Bay regions as one the premiere places to study and play the harp and is thrilled to have USF be such an integral part of that mission.

John earned a Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance from Baldwin Wallace University's Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jody Guinn of The Cleveland Orchestra. His Master of Music in Harp Performance and Pedagogy is from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he worked with Janet Harriman of Opera Colorado and Central City Opera. John also serves as adjunct harp faculty at the University of Tampa and Hillsborough Community College. In addition, John is the Director of Harp Studies for Hillsborough County Public Schools, where he teaches harp from 4th to 12th grade. The Hillsborough County Harp program is one of the oldest, and largest, public school harp programs in the country and serves as a model for other school districts looking to recreate its unique success.

On top of his teaching duties, John is an active performer. He is the principal harpist of the St. Petersburg Opera Company and the Florida Wind Band. He is also a frequent substitute and additional harpist with orchestras across Florida and beyond. John's main passion and musical focus are aimed at 20th and 21st century chamber music. He is the Principal Harpist of the Reflections Chamber Ensemble, which advocates for and specializes in chamber music of now and the last hundred years. John has commissioned and premiered multiple new chamber works for harp and other instruments and is considered an authority on the music for and performance of the Flute, Harp, and Viola trio. His trio, The Barefoot Trio, was featured by The World Harp Congress in its concert celebrating new music for the harp. John is a member of the World Harp Congress, The American Harp Society, and the Florida Music Educators Association.