John Potter's musical education began as a chorister in the Choir of King's College, Cambridge,[1] after which he became a scholar at The King's School, Canterbury and exhibitioner at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

His coaches included lieder specialist Walter Gruner, accompanist Paul Hamburger, and the tenor Peter Pears.

His later collaborations have included Being Dufay with electronic music composer Ambrose Field[3] and the lutenist and vihuela player Ariel Abramovich.

Potter is a reader emeritus for the Music Department at the University of York; before retirement he was the director of the Vocal Studies postgraduate program.

[4] Potter is the editor of the Cambridge Companion to Singing (1998) and is the author of numerous articles in academic publications.