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JON BATISTE

JON BATISTE

Jon Batiste is a singular creative force of the modern age who exists beyond category. An American singer-songwriter, pianist, composer, bandleader, educator, producer, and cultural ambassador, his many honors include five Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and an Oscar. Showcasing his improvisatory transformations of some of Beethoven’s most iconic works, Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1) was released in November 2024 by Verve Records / Interscope. The first of Batiste’s recordings to foreground his love of classical music, Beethoven Blues follows the success of his two most recent studio albums, both of which reveal the breadth and scope of his musicianship. “A concept album that challenges music’s provincial genre borders, with a message of open-armed inclusivity” (The New York Times), World Music Radio (2023) received four Grammy nominations, including one for “Album of the Year.” Similarly, We Are (2021) made Grammy history, receiving eleven Grammy nominations in seven different categories, before winning “Album of the Year” and four more. Batiste is winning comparable success in film and television. Composed and produced live in front of cast and crew, his score for Jason Reitman’s film Saturday Night (2024) channels the intensity and spontaneity of its subject: the chaotic 90 minutes before Saturday Night Live first aired in 1975. Earlier triumphs include the Disney/Pixar film Soul (2020); Batiste’s hands provided the model for the animation of its piano-playing protagonist, while his music for the film won him the 2021 Academy Award for Best Original Score, as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA, NAACP Image, and Critic’s Choice awards. In early 2025, he makes his debut on the hit UK TV show The Piano, succeeding Lang Lang as a mentor in the BAFTA-nominated Channel 4 series’ third season, which continues the search to find the UK’s best amateur pianists. Batiste is already a beloved TV personality in the United States, where he appeared nightly from 2015 to 2022 as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Immersed since early childhood in New Orleans' rich musical heritage, Batiste trained as a classical pianist and received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano from New York’s Juilliard School. He returned to his classical roots in the 2021-22 season, when he curated a multi-concert “Perspectives” series at New York’s Carnegie Hall. This was crowned by the acclaimed world premiere of his large-scale orchestral work American Symphony (2022), a Carnegie Hall commission, on the venue’s main stage. Chronicling Batiste’s life during his composition of the work, a 2023 documentary of the same name was released on Netflix in partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. Batiste is music director of The Atlantic and co-artistic director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Committed to the education and mentorship of young musicians, he is an inaugural Juilliard Creative Associate and has led his own Social Music Residency and Mentoring Program. He serves on the boards of Juilliard, Carnegie Hall, and the nonprofit Sing for Hope.

About 
JON BATISTE

Jon Batiste is a singular creative force of the modern age who exists beyond category. An American singer-songwriter, pianist, composer, bandleader, educator, producer, and cultural ambassador, his many honors include five Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and an Oscar. Showcasing his improvisatory transformations of some of Beethoven’s most iconic works, Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1) was released in November 2024 by Verve Records / Interscope. The first of Batiste’s recordings to foreground his love of classical music, Beethoven Blues follows the success of his two most recent studio albums, both of which reveal the breadth and scope of his musicianship. “A concept album that challenges music’s provincial genre borders, with a message of open-armed inclusivity” (The New York Times), World Music Radio (2023) received four Grammy nominations, including one for “Album of the Year.” Similarly, We Are (2021) made Grammy history, receiving eleven Grammy nominations in seven different categories, before winning “Album of the Year” and four more. Batiste is winning comparable success in film and television. Composed and produced live in front of cast and crew, his score for Jason Reitman’s film Saturday Night (2024) channels the intensity and spontaneity of its subject: the chaotic 90 minutes before Saturday Night Live first aired in 1975. Earlier triumphs include the Disney/Pixar film Soul (2020); Batiste’s hands provided the model for the animation of its piano-playing protagonist, while his music for the film won him the 2021 Academy Award for Best Original Score, as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA, NAACP Image, and Critic’s Choice awards. In early 2025, he makes his debut on the hit UK TV show The Piano, succeeding Lang Lang as a mentor in the BAFTA-nominated Channel 4 series’ third season, which continues the search to find the UK’s best amateur pianists. Batiste is already a beloved TV personality in the United States, where he appeared nightly from 2015 to 2022 as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Immersed since early childhood in New Orleans' rich musical heritage, Batiste trained as a classical pianist and received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano from New York’s Juilliard School. He returned to his classical roots in the 2021-22 season, when he curated a multi-concert “Perspectives” series at New York’s Carnegie Hall. This was crowned by the acclaimed world premiere of his large-scale orchestral work American Symphony (2022), a Carnegie Hall commission, on the venue’s main stage. Chronicling Batiste’s life during his composition of the work, a 2023 documentary of the same name was released on Netflix in partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. Batiste is music director of The Atlantic and co-artistic director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Committed to the education and mentorship of young musicians, he is an inaugural Juilliard Creative Associate and has led his own Social Music Residency and Mentoring Program. He serves on the boards of Juilliard, Carnegie Hall, and the nonprofit Sing for Hope.

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