John Heiss is an active composer, conductor, flutist, and teacher. He has received awards and commissions from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, Fromm Foundation, NEA, Rockefeller Foundation, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, ASCAP, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Mr. Heiss has been principal flute of Boston Musica Viva and has performed with many local ensembles, including the BSO.

He has been a faculty member of New England Conservatory since 1967, and has taught New England Conservatory students the roots of 20th-century modernism both in the classroom and as a conductor and coach. His courses on Ives, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky have shaped generations of musicians.