John T. LaBarbera

John T. LaBarbera Profile Photo

Composer

John T. La Barbera, (Music Director) is a NYC based Academy Award-nominated film score composer for film and theater, producer, guitar and stringed instrument virtuoso, concert artist, educator and author. Winner of awards and commissions from The Jerome Foundation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Martin Gruss Foundation, Meet the Composer, UMass-Dartmouth, ASCAP and The Italian Oral History Institute and Italian Charities of America.

Film scores: “Children of Fate “(Academy Award Nomination 1992), “Marcella”, “Musical Journeys of the Black Madonna”, “The Bounty Hunter”, “Sacco and Vanzetti”, “Sister Italy”, “Pane Amaro”, “What's up Scarlet”, “Finding the Mother Lode: Italian Immigrants in California”, and “Tarantella”. He scored the music to “The Old Guitarist”, directed by Will Nunziata, starring Dominic Chianese.

Silent film scores: “Assunta Spina”, “ ‘A Santanotte”, “The Immigrant”, “The Adventurer”. He was invited to screen his film score to Assunta Spina in Italy at the 37th annual Pordenone Silent Film Festival, and at the Cineteca del Gemona (2018).

Theater: composer and musical director for off-Broadway production of Souls of Naples, (Theater for a New Audience) starring John Turturro and the stage adaptation of Sicilian playwright Luigi Pirandello's short stories in Kaos, (New York Theater Workshop) directed by Marta Clarke. Off Broadway Productions at La Mama, ETC, and composer of Italian Folk Operas and Sacred works including “Stabat Mater: Donna di Paradiso” for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in NYC.
Podcasts: “Am I Old Yet?” directed by Flloyd Kennedy and “Baked Off!” directed by Flloyd Kennedy (Thundersmouth Theater Company)

He has appeared on recording and performance projects with folk singer Judy Collins, rock drummer John Densmore of THE DOORS,Musical Director for actor Dominic Chianese show at The Town hall in NYC, Hollywood film soundtracks, Walt Disney Productions, TV and Radio jingles, Broadway actress and star of The Lion King, South African vocalist Tsiddi Le Loka and the famed Italian American - Neapolitan singer, Jimmy Roselli. He helped produce I’m a Typical New Yorker for actor Dominic Chianese.

He is the author of the first and foremost book published in the U.S. on the Italian mandolin called Traditional Southern Italian Mandolin and Fiddle Tunes and Italian Folk Music For Mandolin, with Mel Bay Publications.

His music can be found on: YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, CD Baby and his own website.

He is a professor of music at Bergen Community College and conducts workshop in Italy.

www.johntlabarbera.com

Nov. 21, 2025

Return of the Bread

Thunder's Mouth Theatre presents "Return of the Bread", a crossover episode in which characters from our two podcast, "Am I Old Yet?" and "Baked Off! Live Laugh Loaves" meet up in Helen's favourite Cheese Shop Cafe in south L...
June 20, 2025

Breaded Bliss

Thunder’s Mouth Theatre presents: “Breaded Bliss” Episode 8, the finale to this audio fiction podcast “Baked Off! Live laugh loaves”. In Brisbane, Margot continues to play detective in her efforts to save Arthur’s medical pr...
June 17, 2025

Two-Way Stretch and Fold

Episode 7 of “Baked Off! Live, Laugh, loaves” finds Julianna’s family being both helpful and mysterious, Duncan doesn’t know if he’s coming or going, and Margot is determined to sort out Arthur whether he likes it or not. You...
June 5, 2025

Loaf in the Time of Crisis

Episode 6 of the limited series: “Baked Off! Live, Laugh Loaves” in which we follow the lives of two aspiring bakers of sourdough bread and their online professional chef tutor, each based in a different country. In this epis...
May 30, 2025

Fantastic Yeasts and Where to Find Them

We catch up with Duncan in Edinburgh, off to enjoy a brisk walk at the seaside with his pal from Uni days, while over in Brisbane, Margot tries to convince her Doctor and old friend Arthur that something fishy is going on in ...
May 22, 2025

A Fistful of Flour

Thunder’s Mouth Theatre presents: “A Fistful of Flour”. Episode 4 of “Baked Off! Live, Laugh Loaves” a dip and dive into the lives of a bunch of would-be sourdough bread bakers, and of course, their course instructor over the...
May 15, 2025

Baking Bad

All of our apprentice bakers have posted images online of their first attempts at baking sourdough bread, and somewhere in Brisbane’s West End, chef Margot is enjoying the results. Julianna and Duncan take advantage of Skype ...
May 8, 2025

A Starter is Born

Episode Two and we are off on a deep dive into the lives of some of the characters. This week, the spotlight is on Duncan in Edinburgh, reconnecting with an old friend from his University days, while in Brisbane Dr Brownlow attempts to keep his old friend Margot on the straight and narrow. On the Z…
May 1, 2025

Loaves Actually

Welcome to Baked Off! a brand new audio comedy from Thunder's Mouth Theatre and the team who bring you Am I Old Yet? . In this first episode you are introduced Duncan, a young Scots IT consultant in Scotland, Julianna, a midd...