John T. La Barbera Composer-Guitarist & Multi-Instrumentalist     

John T. La Barbera, composer-arranger, guitarist, and mandolinist, is the author of the first and foremost Italian mandolin book Traditional Southern Italian Mandolin and Fiddle Tunes, currently on the best sellers list from Mel Bay Publications. Awarded for his extraordinary role in the transmission and translation of Italian oral traditions from The Italian Oral History Institute, La Barbera is recognized as one of the first transcribers of Southern Italian folk music in America. Because of his expertise in Italian traditional music, La Barbera has been a valuable resource for both film and theater directors.

Credits: As a composer, his film scores include the Academy Award Nominated feature and winner of the 1993 Sundance Film Festival documentary: Children of Fate, (1992), Sacco and Vanzetti (2008) awarded best historical film from the American Historical Association; Pane Amaro (2008) RAI-National Italian TV network; What's up Scarlet (2005) Neapolitan Heart -Cuore Napolitano (2000); La Festa (1996) and Tarantella (1994).

In theater, he has worked as composer, arranger and musical director for several off-Broadway productions including: Souls of Naples, starring John Turturro, produced by Theater for a New Audience; Luigi Pirandello’s Kaos, produced by New York Theater Workshop; and has composed several fully staged folk operas including: Stabat Mater: Donna di Paradiso; The Voyage of the Black Madonna; and The Dance of the Ancient Spider. He was the recipient of several composing awards and commissions from: The Jerome Foundation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Cathedral of St. John The Divine, The Martin Gruss Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, ASCAP and finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition.

As the musical director and co-founder of the Italian folk music and theater company “I Giullari Di Piazza”, he composed and produced seven albums, as well as composing and arranging the  music for their theatrical productions, and is the musical director for the online Italian cooking show, Cooking With Nonna, hosted by Rossella Rago (www.cookingwithnonna.com)

Published works include:

Traditional Southern Italian Mandolin and Fiddle Tunes, Mel Bay Publications, 2009

The Marimbaba Suite- for percussion quartet –Bachovich Music Publications. 2009

Danza del Fuego for solo marimba, Bachovich Music Publications, 2009;

“That’s Not Italian Music” from Oral History, Oral Culture, and Italian Americans, Palgrave-MacMillan, 2009.

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, 2010 (band leader/mandolinist) directed by Mark Stanley Johnson, Touchtone films,

The Bounty Hunter, 2010 (guitarist) directed by Andy Tennant, Columbia Pictures and Sony

Neapolitan Heart 2002, (guitarist) directed by Paulo Santoni, Ready Made Productions, Italy. The Moon in The Gutter 1983, (Dock worker) Jean-Jacques Bieneix, Gaumont-Cinecitta`, Italy.

Working for many years as a studio musician in New York City for jingles and soundtracks, 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; Susan Mc Keown, Irish Traditional Singer/Songwriter; Visual Artist Matthew Barney; Palestinian oud virtuoso and violinist, Simon Shaheen; from Italy: Maria Carta, Pupi e Fressedde; 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; and composer/organist of the Cathedral of St. John Divine: Dorothy Papadakos .

As a concert artist, he performs to audiences throughout the United States, Europe and South America including: The Montreal Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall-Lincoln Center, The Felt Forum, the San Francisco World Music Festival, Central Park Summer Stage, the Jones Beach Theater, and the Banco do Brasil’s, Brasil Festeiro and SESC, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

He holds a B.M. from the Hartt School of Music, (Univ.of Hartford), and is a Master’s

Degree candidate in Jazz Arranging, at William Paterson University. Graduate studies at Hunter College (NYC) in ethnomusicology;  Villa Schifanoia (Rosary College), in Florence; and at the Academia Chigiana in Siena, participating in the film music seminar with film composer, 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 N.Y; Sessione Sienese in Siena, Italy; SASI in Bratislava, Slovakia; and SESC in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His music has been recorded on: Shanachie records, Meadowlark, Rounder Records, Lyrichord Disks, Ellipsis Arts, and Bribie records.

Website:
www.myspace.com/johntlabarbera
www.johntlabarbera.com
www.cookingwithnonna.com