John McMurtery is section flutist of the New York City Opera and principal flutist with the Opera Orchestra of New York.  In addition, he performs regularly with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the New Jersey Symphony.  He has appeared as soloist with the New York Symphonic Ensemble, the Artemis Chamber Ensemble, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and at the 2005 Lincoln Center Festival.  As an advocate for contemporary music, McMurtery performs with Memphis-based ensemble Luna Nova, the Society for Chromatic Art (New York), and UpTown Flutes. Adding to his discography, he appears on a collaborative disc of world premieres by award-winning composer Sean Hickey (NAXOS).  During the 2006-07 academic year, McMurtery was appointed Visiting Professor of Flute at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and has also taught at Westminster Conservatory in Princeton, NJ.  He is the current president of the New York Flute Club.  McMurtery graduated in 2005 from The Juilliard School with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, where he studied with Jeanne Baxtresser, Julius Baker, and Robert Langevin.  Previous teachers include Bart Feller at Rutgers University (MM ’99) and Dr. Hal Ott at Central Washington University (BM ’97).