John McCowen’s musical life has become an obsession with discovering a polyphonic language on a historically monophonic instrument - the clarinet. This has led him to a unique acoustic vocabulary that is akin to a shifting soundscape of electronic feedback. John's multiphonic approach is based in drones, difference tones, and beating harmonics as a means to showcase the compositional potential within a single, acoustic sound source. His work has been described by The New Yorker as “the sonic equivalent of microscopic life viewed on a slide” and “an astonishing demonstration of pure sound and human will” by The Wire. He began playing in the American DIY circuit in a number of groups. These years led to international rock tours as a saxophone & flute player in his early 20’s. After burning out, he decided to pursue classical clarinet performance with contemporary clarinet pioneer, Eric P. Mandat. John plays the contrabass clarinet, bass clarinet, Bb & A clarinets, as well as recorders (soprano, alto, bass, & garklein).

John has been artist-in-residence at Lijiang Studio in Yunnan, China in 2017 and 2019, as well as 2020 at ISSUE Project Room in Brooklyn, New York. He has released documents on International Anthem, Edition Wandelweiser, Sound American, Astral Spirits, Superpang, and others. He currently resides in Reykjavík, Iceland where he teaches Music Improvisation at the Iceland University of the Arts.

He has performed in spaces such as Borealis Festival, Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Cafe OTO, Edition Festival, Sequences Festival, Dark Music Days Festival, Roulette Intermedium, LAMPO, ISSUE Project Room, Q-O2 Oscillation Festival, Norður Og Niður Festival, and others.

John has collaborated extensively with the composer and instrumentalist, Roscoe Mitchell. He has orchestrated, arranged, and transcribed Mitchell’s works for orchestras and other ensembles as well as performing as a duo of bass saxophone and contrabass clarinet.

John remains stubbornly dedicated to acoustic phenomena. His works do not utilize amplifier feedback or electronically-generated sounds unless specified.