Exploring the Arts Monday, April 17 2017 – 7pm
John Roberts (of Y Pan Blanco) on trombone, and 3-piece ensemble at the Library. Roberts began playing the piano at the age of 5 while living on an isolated ranch in Southeastern Montana. At age 11, he picked up trombone to play in the grade school band. After graduating in 1996 from Montana State University-Billings with a BA in Music Performance, John moved to Los Angeles to earn his Master of Fine Arts in Western Orchestral Trombone Performance from California Institute of the Arts. Feeling equally comfortable in orchestral and commercial music realms, John has been touring, recording, and performing around the world, including Mexico, India, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia and Africa.
After 16 years in Los Angeles, John is currently on staff in Montana at MSU Billings as a Jazz, music theory, low brass and World Music instructor. He also maintains a private studio and regularly works and performs as a clinician and guest artist in schools, continuing to hone his skills as an educator by sharing the “real world” of music with his students. John is active in the Montana and Los Angeles performing and studio scenes as an arranger, bandleader, session player and composer. Most recent works are the new Dr. Dre production, “Straight Outta Compton”, and Ricardo Lemvo’s new Cuban-West African album.