John Ballerino

About

Dr. John Ballerino is a Continuing Lecturer of Collaborative Piano and Voice at UC Santa Barbara, where he teaches Spanish Diction and Song and Operatic Literature. He grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico and is fluent in Spanish. Dr. Ballerino holds a DMA in Collaborative Arts from the University of Southern California, where he also studied Spanish and Latin American literature as part of his doctoral program. His principal teachers include Gwendolyn Koldofsky, Brooks Smith, Alan Smith, George Katz, and Frank Wiens. He is a five-time winner of the Koldofsky Graduate Fellowship in Accompanying and twice won the Hans Schiff Memorial Scholarship for excellence in chamber music at USC. He has also received scholarships to the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara on two occasions. Dr. Ballerino is the former Chorus Master, Principal Pianist, and Assistant Conductor for Opera Santa Barbara and has frequently been on the music staffs of the Los Angeles, Florentine (Milwaukee), Utah Festival, Fresno, and Sarasota Opera Companies as an Assistant Conductor and Repetiteur. He currently serves as a Guest Lecturer of Spanish Opera at UCLA.

Education & Qualifications

DMA in Collaborative Arts from University of Southern California; studied Spanish and Latin American literature; five-time winner of the Koldofsky Graduate Fellowship in Accompanying; twice winner of the Hans Schiff Memorial Scholarship for excellence in chamber music

Teaching Styles