John Mietus is a double bassist currently residing in LA and studying at the University of Southern California with David Allen Moore. As a composer, he has won several competitions, including the American Choral Directors Association Choral Competition, the South Carolina Music Educators Association Composition Competition, the UNK New Music Festival Composition Competition, the USC Choral Competition Showcase, and has also won the Interfaces International call for scores. Many of these have enjoyed international premieres including “Fernweh” for solo bass at Wells Cathedral in England, “Hide and Seek” for Violin Duet in the Republic of Cyprus, and “Hocking Hills” with the PMF chamber ensemble in Sapporo, Japan. He has also had many notable commissions as well. Most recently he wrote the text for a piece written for Roomful of Teeth as part of the New Music On the Point summer music festival. He has received other commissions by David Heyes, Founder of Recital Music in honor of Bert Turetzky, Grammy award winning musician Kevin Charles Brandon, Louis Levitt Hans Sturm and Frank Proto, the Harmonia Vocal Octet, the Hathaway Brown School, Blue Valley Northwest High School, as well as the Carpe Diem String Quartet. Committed to the advancement of young musicians, John is a volunteer with the El Sistema strings program, Rainey Institute of Music, Community Outreach of Devoted Artists, and the Thornton Outreach Program, helping young artists learn and achieve through music, and co-founded a charity called The String Bank dedicated to providing quality strings to schools and music students in need across America.