JOHN MORAN, a native of the Washington, D.C. area, appears regularly as soloist and chamber musician on baroque and classical cello and viola da gamba on both sides of the Atlantic. He received his professional training at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Schola Cantorum (Basel, Switzerland).

After a decade in Europe where he appeared regularly with groups such as The Consort of Musicke, English Baroque Soloists, Les Musiciens du Louvre, and Ex Cathedra, he returned to America where he has played with Folger Consort, Opera Lafayette, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the New York Collegium, and the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, among others. He is principal cellist of the Washington Bach Consort for whom he also co-directs their Wunderkind Projekt, an outreach program that introduces public school students to Bach cantatas. He is artistic director of the period instrument group Modern Musick, in residence at Georgetown University. He teaches baroque cello and gamba at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore where he co-directs the Baltimore Baroque Band, the school’s baroque orchestra, with violinist Risa Browder. Recording credits include Dorian Recordings, Bridge Records, Virgin Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, ERATO, ATMA Classique, Hänssler Classic, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and Musica Oscura.

Also a musicologist, Dr. Moran is a contributor to Grove Music 

Online and reviews books on musical topics for various journals. He is writing a historical monograph on the cello for Yale University Press. He is currently vice president of the Viola da Gamba Society of America and president of the Kindler Cello Society of Washington. Other interests include bicycling, linguistics and architecture. He and his wife, Risa Browder, have two sons who pursue musical and artistic interests.