Assistant Principal 

John Michael Flavetta joined the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in 2014 at the age of 20. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, he is a third-generation professional horn player. John Michael received degrees from the New England Conservatory (B.M.) and Rice University (M.M.). He is currently on faculty at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School.

John Michael has been featured as a soloist with the Hartford Symphony and regularly performs chamber music with the HSO Wind Quintet. His work takes him all over the United States, where he has been fortunate to perform with many great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony and Houston Symphony.

An advocate of new music, John Michael spends his summers performing at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, CA. The Cabrillo Festival is America’s preeminent contemporary music festival, highlighting emerging composers while working to advance equity and inclusion in the orchestra world.