John Korak is Associate Professor of Trumpet and Chair of the Department of Music at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. He holds B.M.E., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees from the University of North Texas, where he was a student of Leonard Candelaria. Having performed with such groups as the Mexico City Philharmonic, Illinois Symphony, Texas Baroque Ensemble, Dallas Bach Society, Texas Brass Ensemble, American Kantorei, Texas Wind Symphony, the Saint Louis Brass Ensemble, the Saint Louis Brass Band, the Bach Society of Saint Louis, the Bluebonnet Brass, and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Korak maintains a busy schedule as a trumpet soloist and chamber musician and is equally adept at both the modern and valveless baroque trumpets.

Presently the Principal Cornetist with the Saint Louis Brass Band, Korak has been a featured performer with the SIUE Wind Symphony at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London, England, and the American Cathedral in Paris, France. He has performed at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Goteborg, Sweden, and was a performer at the 2000, 2001, and 2004 ITG Conferences. He also has performed at the 1997 International Music Festival in Nagaoka, Japan and has been a performing artist with the Texas Baroque Trumpet Ensemble at the European Trumpet Days Conference in Bad Sackingen, Germany.

Korak has directed both middle school and high school band programs in Lewisville, Texas, where his bands received consistent first division ratings. He is sought as a clinician in both the trumpet performance and wind band areas, and has presented clinics to students throughout the country and abroad, including masterclasses at the Krakow (Poland) Academy of Music, the Monterey (Mexico) Youth Music Camp, and Nagaoka (Japan) public schools.

Korak is the Book Reviews Editor for the International Trumpet Guild Journal, and is the author of "Giuseppe Concone: The Complete Solfeggi", a highly successful brass etude book.