John LaBarbera-Composer Guitarist
Biography
John La Barbera- Awards and commissions:The jerome Foundation,Lincoln Center,the Martin Gruss Foundation,ASCAP,Meet the Composer, NYSCA and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. His unique guitar playing,blending the best of many cultures, rhythms and styles including Mediterranean, Brazilian, Jazz,Classical,Renaissance/Medieval exemplifies his style. In the words of the Woodstock Times " LaBarbera is North American born with the dance of music in his fingertips... his articulations on either instrument (multi-Instrumentalist),intimate and classically fine, are filled with the light of a born Latino.
List of Credits
John La Barbera,has a host of credits as Guitarist-Composer in Film and Theater.
Film composing credits include:"What's up, Scarlet?", by Antonio Caldarella and Open City films, Children of Fate, nominated for best Documentary feature in the 1994 Academy Awards and winner of the 1993 Sundance Film Festival; Cutting Loose, which won the best Documentary Film Award at the Sundance Festival in 1996; La Festa, produced by NJTV for PBS; Tarantella, starring Mira Sorvino,the PBS Documentary film Sacco and Vanzetti by director/producer Peter Miller. He has recorded for some of Hollywood's most prominenet film composer,including Howard Shore for the film GLORIA with Sharon Stone.
His off-Broadway productions include scoring music for several productions including"Souls of Naples" by Eduardo de Filippo directed by Roman Paska for Theater for a New Audience, starring John Turturro, at the new Duke on 42nd Street.Several plays by director Shauna Kanter including: The Gift, Pushing Through, The Homecoming Project,and Federico Garcia Lorca’s YERMA. He also scored After the Rain (produced by Theater 40),The Misadventures of Peter Pan and Captain Maledetto (produced by La Mamma Theater and Dario D’Ambrosi’s Teatro Patologico di Roma) as well as three folk operas with his Italian Music and Theater Company, I Giullari Di Piazza . He has won several awards and commissions from the Jerome Foundation to write works for the ETHOS Percussion ensemble; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to compose The Dance of the Ancient Spider, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for his Opera -Stabat Mater/Donna Di Paradiso. His music has been recorded on several labels including: Shanachie,Rounder, Lyrichord,and Ellipsis Arts.
La Barbera has performed and recorded with world class musicians and singers including: American Folk Singer Judy Collins; Tsiddi Le Loka, South African vocalist and star from Broadway’s The Lion King; Palestinian oud virtuoso and violinist, Simon Shaheen; Composer/Author Liz Swados; Maria Carta and Pupi e Fressedde from Italy; Brazilian guitar duo DUOFEL and guitarist Paulo Freire; Jazz artists Mark Gross and Mulgrew Miller; master percussionist Glen Velez ; Bansuri flutist Steve Gorn ; Russian vocalist Masha Itkina ; Countertenor Robert Crowe; vocalist/percussionist Alessandra Belloni ;composer/organist of the Cathedral of St. John Divine:Dorothy Papadakos and performed last summer with percussionist Roger Squitero at the Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada.
John has studied with Oscar Ghiglia, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Jose Rey Della Torre, Albert Valdes-Blain, Richard Provost, Juan Della Mata,and Ennio Morricone to name a few.
He is artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, in Katonah, New York and holds a B.M. degree in classical guitar from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford,Connecticut.
John also conducts workshops and lectures on world music and acoustic guitar styles, and writes for Acoustic Guitar Magazine.
CD's-In The Labyrinth, String Ecstasies, Mixed Emotions, Earth- Sun and Moon
" This is an intriging collection of solo guitar instrumentals by John LaBarbera...Joined by percussionist Yousif Sheronick this recording features an original mix of music combined with a sensitive and reflective preformance.A challenging and rewarding recording.." Dirty Linen Magazine".
"The crisp tones of his classical guitar reference Arabic, Flamenco, Celtic and even Greek music... rapid flamenco-influenced runs reminiscent of Al Di Meola yield to softer, gentler passages on several of the tunes,all composed by LaBarbera..Most memorable is the frilly Medieval-style guitar on 'La Rotta' and 'Trotto'.." Chris Rubin RHYTHM Music
In the Labyrinth, can be purchased online from Amazon.com (under music)
World music for Guitar
Latest appearances have been at the Montreal Jazz Festival,concert tour in Sao Paulo, Brazil sponsored by SESC and Banco do Brasil, The New Jersey Shakespeare Festival,the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.
Sign up for John's
TUSCANY ACOUSTIC GUITAR SUMMER SESSION
in La Chiara di Prumiano- Florence,Italy
August 9-17, 2005
Enjoy an incredible week of group classes and workshops for acoustic guitar, jam sessions and performances in an authentic 16th century Villa in the Chianti wine region of Tuscany. Scheduled trips to Florence and Siena and optional classes on regional Italian cuisine are also available.
Please e-mail me for more details.For contact info:
www.johntlabarbera.com
labmambo@aol.com
917-488-3692
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