John Hillebrandt keeps an active schedule as a pianist, composer and educator. His numerous and highly acclaimed performances each season include solo recitals, chamber music, concertos, and original compositions. He retired in 2011 from California State University, Stanislaus, where his remarkable career as staff accompanist and lecturer for 15 years included more than 500 performances. He has been the Principal Pianist and Keyboardist for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra since 1996, and plays with other regional orchestras including the Sacramento Philharmonic and the “Music in the Mountains” festival orchestra. He has taught many award-winning students, and is a regular adjudicator for the United States Open Music Competition, the Music Teachers’ Association of California, and others. He is also currently teaching online courses through Modesto Junior College, and performs regularly on faculty artist concerts.
Dr. Hillebrandt is the choir director and organist/pianist at First United Methodist Church of Sacramento, where many of his original compositions are heard regularly. Hillebrandt’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra was featured by the Modesto Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and his orchestral composition, “Valley Fever,” was commissioned by the MSO in 2018 as part of Modesto’s Graffiti celebration. He has recently been performing his Twelve Transcendental Hymn-Fantasies to great acclaim, including as the opening concert of the Sacramento State Piano Series’ 2017-2018 season.
Hillebrandt is also an avid skier and mountaineer. His climbs include the Grand Teton, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Whitney; and he has hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite more than 50 times. He has completed one ultramarathon (50 km) and skied the Vallée Blanche in the French Alps, a 20 km glacier ski descent of Mont Blanc.
