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John T. LaBarbera
For more than three decades, guitarist, mandolinist, and composer arranger, John La Barbera, has enchanted audiences throughout the United States, Europe and South America. Among the concert halls and music festivals where John has been invited to perform include: Montreal Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall,  The Felt Forum, Alice Tully Hall,    Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institute, UCLA, Field Museum in Chicago and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Francisco World Music Festival, Central Park Summer Stage and at the Jones Beach Theater. Also tours throughout Eastern Europe, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and in Brazil, where he was sponsored by the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Brasil Festeiro and SESC, in Sao Paulo.

He holds a B.M. from the Hartt School of Music, (Univ.of Hartford), and graduate courses at Hunter College (NYC) in ethnomusicology, Villa Schifanoia (Rosary College), in Florence and at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena , the film music seminar with Ennio Morricone.

He currently teaches at the Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey and has taught at The Julius Hartt School of Music (University of Hartford ) , The Guitar Study Center of the New School in New York ; Sessione Sienese , in Siena,Italy; SASI in Bratislava, Slovakia; and SESC in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He conducts workshops and lectures on mandolin and acoustic guitar styles, ethnomusicology, world music, and has written for Acoustic Guitar magazine.

Awards and Commissions:

John has won several awards and commissions for his musical compositions. From the Jerome Foundation he was commissioned to write a work for the ETHOS Percussion ensemble ,The Marimba’Ba Suite for percussion, which premiered in 2001 and released on their CD Sol Tunnels ; in 1996 by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Martin Gruss Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts, to compose The Dance of the Ancient Spider , which premiered at Alice Tully Hall. Funding from the New York State Council on the Arts and Meet the Composer; commissioned by the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City to compose the Opera: Stabat Mater-Donna Di Paradiso. His music has been recorded by various artists including percussionists Yousef Sheronick and Joseph Gramley with Danza del Fuego for Marinba and Dumbeck ; Jazz harmonica artist Enrico Granafei together with Fred Hersh, Alan Nussbaum and Mark Johnson, who recorded Waltz for Waiting. He has received numerous composer awards from ASCAP and his song Sun Goes Down was awarded Jazz finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition. In 2005, he was awarded for the extraordinary role of the transmission and translation of Italian oral traditions from The Italian Oral History Institute and recognized as one of the first transcribers of Southern Italian folk music in America. He is the author of Southern Italian Mandolin and Fiddle Tunes, Mel Bay Publications, to be released in early 2009.

Film Composing Credits:

Film composing credits include: Documentary film Sacco and Vanzetti (2007) awarded best historical film from the American Historical Association ; Pane Amaro (2007) RAI-National Italian TV network ; What`s Up Scarlet? (2006); ; Children of Fate (1992) nominated for best Documentary feature in the 1993 Academy Awards and winner of the 1993 Sundance Film Festival ; La Festa,(1998); Tarantella,(1997) ; starring Mira Sorvino; Neapolitan Heart (2002).

Theater Credits:

Theater credits as composer-musical director, include several off- Broadway productions: Souls of Naples, (2004) starring John Turturro, Theater for a New Audience at the New Duke Theater on 42nd Street ; Kaos (2006) ; produced by The New York Theater Workshop ; Crazy Sounds (2006) produced at La MaMa theater NY ; Retzach (2005) at Theater 59 East 59th, NY; Missionaries (1997) La MaMa theater NY ; The Misadventures of Peter Pan and Captain Maledetto (1998), La MaMa Theater and Dario D`Ambrosi`s Teatro Patologico di Roma; After the Rain (1997)Theater 4-Red Hudson Company.

Composer of original Folk Operas:

Stabat Mater: Donna di Paradiso (1997)  The Voyage of the Black Madonna (1990)  The Dance of the Ancient Spider (1996)  La Lupa- the She-Wolf  (1987)  The Adventures of Don Giovanni and His Servant Pulcinella (1987)  La Cantata dei Pastori (1985) .

Film appearances include:

When In Rome, (band leader/mandolinist) directed by Mark Steven Johnson  with Danny De Vito and Angelica Houston. To be released in Spring `09. Neapolitan Heart (2002), directed by Paulo Santoni , Ready Made productions, Italy, with Jimmy Roselli. The Moon in The Gutter (1983), Jean-Jacques Bieneix , Gaumont-Cinecitta, Italy, with Gerard Depardieu.

Studio Musician Credits:

As a sought after studio musician in New York City, La Barbera has worked on jingles and soundtracks and performed and recorded with world class musicians and singers including: American Folk Singer Judy Collins; Tsidii Le Loka, South African vocalist and star from Broadway’s The Lion King; Susan McKeown,, Irish Traditional Singer/Songwriter; Visual Artist Matthew Barney; Palestinian oud virtuoso and violinist, Simon Shaheen ; from Italy: Maria Carta, Pupi e Fressedde, and vocalist/percussionist Alessandra Belloni ; Brazilian guitar duo DUOFEL and guitarist Paulo Freire; Jazz artists Mark Gross and Mulgrew Miller ; master percussionist Glen Velez,  and Yousif Sheronick ; Bansuri flutist Steve Gorn ; Russian vocalist Masha Itkina; Countertenor Robert Crowe ; and composer/organist of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine: Dorothy Papadakos.

Record Labels:

His music has been recorded on Shanachie records, Meadowlark , Rounder Records , Lyrichord Disks , Ellipsis Arts and Bribie records.

External Links:


 * JohnTLabarbera.com


 * A Troubadour's Journey, Part 1 (Biographical Podcast featuring his education and performances in Italy)


 * A Troubadour's Journey, Part 2 (Biographical Podcast featuring his performances after returning to the U.S.)