John Diercks was born in New Jersey and received music degrees from Oberlin College, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Rochester. He taught piano at the College of Wooster from 1950 to 1954, and in 1954 began a long tenure at Hollins College in Virginia where he taught composition and theory and was department chairman from 1962 until 1990. Diercks also served as a music critic for The Roanoke Times for more than 20 years. He has received awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon and Danforth Foundation, and SCAP. He has enjoyed residence at MacDowell, Well Trap Farm, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Much of Diercks’ music is influenced by exoticism, including microtonality and unconventional sounds. His Cave Music for three players on Prepared Piano and Flute accompanied a dance performed in Virginia’s Dixie Caverns and broadcast on NBC-TV’s Today Show. He lives and works in Washington DC and Boston.
