Areas of Expertise
- Instrumental Conducting (wind band)
- Conducting Pedagogy
Education
- DMA, Conducting, University of Missouri–Kansas City
- MM, Conducting, University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music
- BM, Music Education, University of Akron
John Climer served as director of bands and professor of music at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts from 2008 until his retirement in 2022. Prior to his appointment in Milwaukee, Dr. Climer was a professor of music and director of bands at Ohio University (Athens), where he conducted the wind ensemble and the new music ensemble.
As a guest conductor and clinician, Climer has led performances at festivals, universities and concert venues nationally and internationally, including the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Eastman School of Music, and the Conservatorio di Musica G. Martucci (Salerno, Italy). Ensembles under his direction have performed for four conferences of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), including the 2013 National Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina. In July 2015, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Wind Ensemble was selected to perform for the 16th International Conference of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) in San Jose, California.
Climer is the recipient of several teaching awards, including the Ohio University College of Fine Arts Outstanding Teacher Award, the Ohio University School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award, and the Outstanding Music Educator Alumni Award from the University of Akron. In 2021, he was named the Phi Beta Mu Wisconsin Bandmaster of the Year. He is a past president of the North Central Division of the College Band Directors National Association and a former editor of the CBDNA Report. He is a contributing author for the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, and his professional memberships include Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Beta Mu, the College Band Directors National Association, and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). His biography is published in the third edition of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and he is an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association.
John has failed miserably at retirement... During the 2022–23 academic year, he was interim director of wind ensembles at Capital University; and currently, he is serving as an associated faculty member at Ohio State, where he is teaching undergraduate instrumental conducting and leading the Symphonic Band during Dr. Scott A. Jones’ sabbatical.