John Baptista
John Baptista is a composer, pianist, music educator and touring/session artist from West Brookfield, MA. With over two decades of bandstand experience John is well versed in many musical styles including Jazz, Classical, RnB, Rock, Folk, Country and Latin. As an educator his primary focus is to ‘explore consciousness through music’. Finding a deep and honest connection to music has been a lifelong (and continuing) journey for John. The human voice in particular has such power to permeate through to a listener. Giving a student or singer the tools to do so has been a driving force for John’s teaching style. Focusing on the mind/body connection and getting to know your vocal instrument’s subtleties directly translates to his directing style in Rock Voices. Recently, working in conjunction with the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office and the non profit organization Rawkstars, John developed and implemented therapeutic music programming in a groundbreaking initiative to combat recidivism. Working directly with incarcerated individuals in the PACT Unit (People Achieving Change Together) gave John a unique insight into the healing power of music and singing. From studying both opera and contemporary vocal styles at Berklee College of Music to years of meditation and practice of non-dual traditions, John blends methodologies from across disciplines to educate and enlighten his students.