Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Principal Flutist Jan Kocman is well known to Canadian audiences for his solo, orchestral, and recital performances. Mr. Kocman has performed as solo flutist with WSO Music Directors Piero Gamba, Kazuhiro Koizumi, Bramwell Tovey, Andrey Boreyko, and now Alexander Mickelthwate.  He has been a featured soloist numerous times in Winnipeg performing concerto repertoire by Nielsen, Mozart, Quantz, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Telemann, Szervansky, Glen Buhr, John Corigliano, R. Murray Schafer, Bright Sheng, Leonard Bernstein, and Christopher Rouse.  Mr. Kocman has been an active chamber music recitalist for the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, Music Inter-Alia, the Winnipeg Bach Festival, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra Small Groups Night, the University of Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the WSO's New Music Festival.  Mr. Kocman has also performed with the Minnesota Orchestra as Principal Flutist under the direction of Edo de Waart.

A native of Hammond, Indiana, Jan Kocman began his flute studies at the age of eight with his father.  He attended Indiana University, School of Music, where he studied with the renowned flutist James Pellerite, graduating with distinction with his Master's Degree in Flute Performance.  During his graduate studies he served as Associate Instructor to Mr. Pellerite and completed course work in musicology with Walter Kaufmann, the founding conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. 

Mr. Kocman has contributed both to the musical life of Winnipeg and the performance training of orchestral flutists.  He has been the flute instructor at the Faculty of Music, University of Manitoba for over three decades as well as a faculty member of the Red Fox Music Festival in Massachusetts, the Banff School of Fine Arts, the Courtenay Youth Music Centre in British Columbia, and flute instructor for the Canadian Festival of Youth Orchestras.  Mr. Kocman has received the Certificate of Teaching Excellence by the University of Manitoba in recognition of significant influence and contributions to the education of an outstanding graduating student.  Jan Kocman is a founding member of the Syrinx Flute Festival, Winnipeg’s annual music festival dedicated to flutists of all performance levels.