Composer, Conductor and Pianist, John Andrew Tarbet had the distinction of being named a Composer Fellow in the 2009 John Duffy Composer's Institute of the Virginia Arts Festival.  Scenes from "Edith Stein" were performed in the "Masterworks in the  Making" concert on the final day of the festival.

In January 2009 the University of Utah Singers performed Mr. Tarbet's choral anthem, "Celebrate the Legacy," a a tribute to the Sorenson Legacy Foundation.  The piece was commissioned by the University of Utah College of Fine Arts.

As a conductor, John made his national tour debut as the musical director of "Peter Pan" with performances in 38 states and 2 Canadian provinces. 

John holds two master's degrees in music, one in piano performance from the University of Utah and the other as a composer from New York University's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

As a pianist John has performed with vocalists, choirs, orchestras, instrumentalists and for theatrical productions.  As a conductor he has worked with church choirs, community and professional theatre groups and also in concerts featuring his own compositions.

John composed the music for "Edith Stein" a full length musical theatre piece based on the play of the same name.  In her lifetime Edith Stein was a Jew, a philosopher, an athiest and a Catholic Carmelite Nun.  Her life ended in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.  She was later canonized and is now known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (also simply as Saint Edith Stein).

Mr. Tarbet's other compositions include works for theatre, vocal solos, instrumental music, choral music and arrangements of hymns. Click here to download some samples of his music.

John grew up in Sandy, Utah (a suburb of Salt Lake City).  He has 6 older brothers and 1 younger sister (as well as over 20 niceces and nephews--with more surely to come).  He currently lives in New York City, where his passion is exploring the city and showing his discoveries to others as a tour guide.