John Franceschina, Associate Professor of Drama at Penn State University, is a published composer and playwright. His commissioned works include a symphonic overture for the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra, a symphonic mass for the Vatican, a symphonic suite for the San Antonio Symphony, and a chamber opera for the Saint Petersberg [Florida] centennial. He has composed for film and television as well as the musical theatre in New York and on tour. His political musical, Kingfish!, written with librettist Jeff Frankel, took first prize in the University of Mississippi's southern playwright competition in 1988. His translation of Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid toured throughout the United States and his recent translation of Arrabal's Automobile Graveyard and Buchner's Danton's Death were performed at Florida State University where he taught classes in theatre history, dramatic theory and criticism, and playwriting.

His more scholarly pursuits include a performance edition [with figured bass accompaniments] of Gay's Achilles, a historical survey of Duke Ellington's theatre music, an anthology of French Opera Parodies in the 18th Century, a critical appreciation of English Restoration City Poets, an anthology of melodramas written by women to be published by Garland Press, and a four volume translation of the complete plays of the Marquis de Sade in collaboration with playwright, Ben Ohmart, published by Hollowbrook Publishing in 1993.

Current musical theatre works include: C-3-3, a multi-media opera commissioned by Brooklyn College; Finnegan's Wake, an opera from the book by James Joyce; Lord Jim, an opera based on the novel by Joseph Conrad; Death Comes For The Archbishop, an opera from the novel by Willa Cather; Chatterton, an opera on the life of the notorious 18th century poet; The Waste Land, a setting of the Eliot for baritone, soprano and chamber orchestra; Queen Mab, a solo keyboard work premiered in Moscow in December 1990; The Magistrate, a musical based on the play by Arthur Wing Pinero, The House of Bernada Alba, a ballet commissioned by the FSU Department of Dance, and Henry?, an opera based on the life of William the Conqueror's son, William Rufus, all three with libretti by Ben Ohmart; incidental music to Red Noses a dark comedy by Peter Barnes; a score for chorus and percussion orchestra for The Bacchae by Euripides; a Ligeti-like score for Shakespeare's Macbeth; and a minimalist score for a new production of Shakespeare's Love's Labours Lost.

His musical, Louise, written in collaboration with Mark Weston, was produced at Musical Theatre Works in New York City in Summer and Fall of 1991, and his score for Utterly Wilde was performed in NYC in March 1995. His original accordion music has won national competitions.