“That’s some good shit” – two-time Grammy Winning Composer/Arranger Alan Broadbent on John Baxter’s music
A young composer whose compositional work has been described as “a great spiritual experience,” John Baxter seeks to explore the tense and mercurial chasm between musician and listener. John was born and raised in the southern part of the southern state of Mississippi. After showing a strong interest in the dusty piano in the corner of his home, he began taking piano lessons with Dr. Laura Broughton. Through these 
lessons, John was exposed to several different styles of music and genres. Like a sieve, his mind picked up on the styles he liked and (respectfully) discarded the ones that did not interest him. It wouldn’t be until many years later that he could articulate exactly which composing style was closest to his own feelings and style. After beginning to improvise around the age of 11, he wrote his first composition at the age of 13. After mastering the piano, he went on to learn the guitar and the violin. After being exposed at an early age to the works of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin, he sought after a large orchestral sound while maintaining the clarity and simplicity of melody.
During his years at Yale University, he was exposed to much more experimental styles of music such as modernism and serialism. He also began conducting a student choir and learning music technology. Studying with composers such as Kathryn Alexander and Konrad Kaczmarek, he began developing his skills as a composer, producer, engraver, and orchestrator. He arranged several pieces for both orchestra and choir and released two studio albums of instrumental compositions. The first, released in 2015, is titled Daymares and Nightdreams and the second, titled Coldth, was released in 2017. In 2017, he was chosen for the Yale Symphony Orchestra reading.
After his time at Yale, he matriculated to New York University to further his study of composition. He studied with Paul Chihara, Alan Broadbent, and Irwin Fisch. He also began his media scoring activities while in school at NYU. He has worked on over forty projects with directors from across the world. One such film was a thriller titled The Collector, a Greek film with renown director of both film and stage Thodoris Vournas. He has also worked on student projects, including the drama The House We Lived In by Tyler Clifton and the wacky comedy Winfield Historical Times…and Other Oddities by Julia Cowle.
Recently, he has worked on Stephen Portland’s debut feature horror/thriller titled Something which has been shown at several festivals and can be viewed on many websites such as Amazon and iTunes. The romantic comedy, Roads, Trees, and 
Honeybees starring Chris Mulkey and Nikki Leigh came out May 22nd on several streaming platforms, including DirecTV, Dish, and Amazon. The documentary Catnip Nation recently won Best Documentary award from the prestigious Hoboken Film Festival. The comedy film, Man Camp, starring Pete Gardner and Erik Stocklin will be released soon.
John has been awarded Best Original Score at 4 different film festivals.
In addition to composing, John enjoys teaching music theory, harmony, and production. While at Yale, he developed and taught several courses on popular harmony and theory. He also has two years of experience teaching music privately. He currently serves as music instructor for Miami Dade College. As a researcher, John enjoys exploring the interplay between human perception and music, seeking to outline and explain the collective unconscious preferences humanity shares in its experience of popular music.
A passionate conductor and music director, John has worked with hundreds of performers in several venues. After being elected music director for his choir at Yale, he studied conducting under Maestro Toshiyuki Shimada. Most recently, John music directed the debut of the musical titled Faux-bia! at Carnegie Hall. Afterward, he traveled to Boston to serve as music director for Guys and Dolls, produced by the Colleges of Fenway. He currently studies with Maestro Gerard Schwarz.
John’s compositional style is heavily inspired by the work of late romantic and early contemporary composers. His sense of melody in its use of storytelling is well developed and clear. He frequently employs the orchestra in such a way as to tell the story more fully, for each instrumental group can be its own character in the narrative. His choral and instrumental arrangements have been heard in the annual California Mental Health Gala, the Universidade Luterana do Brasil, and Great Valley High School in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Recently, he was commissioned to arrange 6 pieces for the New York International Symphony Orchestra’s Big Apple Music Festival. He has worked with directors and producers in Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Great Britain, and Canada. His compositions have been played at Carnegie Hall, Columbia University, Yale University, the NYU Youth Music Festival, and in theaters around the world.
His resume can be viewed at: https://johnbaxtermusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/John-Baxter-CV.pdf