John W. Whitaker IV joined the Amarillo Symphony in September 2013 as Operation Director where he oversees all aspects of concert production. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance and Music Education from Texas Tech University, a Master of Music in Performance from the University of Houston and awarded the Priddy Fellowship Graduate Academic Certificate in Arts Leadership from the University of North Texas.
As a horn player, his primary teachers include Anthony Brittin, Nancy Goodearl, Bruce Hennis, and William Scharnberg, as well as participating in masterclasses with several renowned artists, including Dale Clevenger, William Barnewitz and Thomas Bacon. He served as Co-Principal Horn with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale (now known as the West Texas Symphony) from 1999-2006 and performed with their resident woodwind quintet the West Texas Winds who were finalists for the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in May 2002. As a performer and educator, he was adjunct faculty at Texas Christian University and Hardin-Simmons University and freelanced and taught privately in Midland-Odessa, Houston and Dallas.

Following a case of embouchure dystonia, he moved from on-stage to backstage and has pursued a career in orchestra administration ever since. Throughout his career, has had the privilege of working with several amazing artists, including pianists Garrick Ohlsson and Orion Weiss, violinists Elena Urioste and Tim Fain, and conductors Jacomo Bairos, Yaniv Dinur and most recently, Music Director & Conductor of the Amarillo Symphony George Jackson.

In his nearly non-existent free time, he enjoys good bourbon, strong coffee, home cooking on the Keto Diet, studying Integral Philosophy and is an avid gamer with a mostly stable 2500+ mod list on Skyrim!