Dr. Justin Binek is an internationally recognized jazz and classical singer, pianist, clinician, and composer/arranger. He is a co-author of Experiencing Jazz (Routledge); he is also a contributing author to Diana Spradling’s Jazz Singing: Developing Artistry and Authenticity and Katrien Van Opstal’s Vocal Jazz Technique:
The Mixing Table Model. A renowned scat singer and teacher of vocal improvisation, Justin is a featured clinician in Michele Weir’s ScatAbility iOS app. Justin’s compositions and arrangements are available from Kerry Marsh Music and Anchor
Music, and his original jazz-inspired mass, Missa Lucis, debuted at Carnegie Hall in June 2022.
A 2022 and 2023 GRAMMY Music Educator Award Quarterfinalist, Justin currently serves as an Associate Professor of Music Theory and Jazz Studies at Kansas City Kansas Community College, where his students have earned numerous DownBeat Student Music Awards. He also teaches on the faculties of The Online Jazz Harmony Retreat and the Halewynstichting Jazz Workshop (Belgium), and previously held teaching positions at the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND), The University of the Arts (Philadelphia). Justin holds BA and BS degrees in Music Performance and Music Education from the University of Mary, an MM in Voice Performance from Western Michigan University, and a DMA in Performance: Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas.
Justin is an active performer in the vibrant Kansas City jazz scene, and lives in Olathe, KS, with his wife, Claire, an accomplished vocal pedagogue and middle school choir director, and their daughters, Cora and Iris. For more information, visit www.justinbinekjazz.com.
John Roberts began playing the piano at the age of 5 while living on an isolated ranch in Southeastern Montana. There was no TV, but there was a piano. From age 11-18, in Malta, MT, he was in band (trombone) and choir in the Malta, MT schools. After graduating in 1996 from Montana State University-Billings with a BA in Music Performance, John moved to Los Angeles to earn his Master of Fine Arts in Western Orchestral Performance from California Institute of the Arts.
Feeling equally comfortable in orchestral and commercial music realms, he has performed in all 50 of the United States and around the world, including; Mexico, South America, Israel, Cuba, India, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia and Africa. Notable venues include the Lincoln Center in New York, Pantages Theatre, Kodak Theatre, Roskilde, House of Blues, Blue Note, Apollo and Apollo London. Tours include his own band, John Roberts y Pan Blanco (Afro-Latin Soul), Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca (Congolese/Cuban), Bobby Womack (Soul), Los Pinguos (Argentina), The Temptations, Chaka Khan, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and more. Other performances and recordings include multiple Grammy and Emmy Award Shows, Chris Botti, LA Philharmonic, Feist, Sting, Dr. Dre, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Fallout Boy, Burt Bacharach, Bill Holman, The Ojays, Jill Scott, Christina Aguilera, The Today Show, NPR, PBS, Disney, and more.
Roberts is a Professor of Low Brass at MSU Billings, teaching Music Theory, Aural Perception, Jazz Ensemble, Commercial Ensemble, World Music courses and more. He is active in the Montana and Los Angeles performing and studio scenes as a bandleader, studio musician and composer/arranger. John is currently recording and composing for his next album, part of which was recorded in Santiago de Cuba and Los Angeles. This record will be a collaboration between Cuban, Congolese, Los Angeles and Montana artists.
