Accompanist

Joao Martins is a pianist, percussionist, and composer specializing in music of the African diaspora.

He is Visiting Assistant Professor at Occidental College and Dance Accompanist at Chapman University. He is a recipient of the Ingolf Dahl Award for his research in jazz pedagogy and a grant recipient from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

He has toured Europe, Brazil, South Korea, and the US as a pianist and percussionist, and has composed and arranged music for film, theater, and dance. He has taught workshops at universities and conservatories in Europe, South Korea, and the US and has presented at conferences in Europe, the US, and Brazil.

He holds a PhD from University of California - Irvine and a B.M. from Berklee College of Music.

He has studied piano with Joanne Brackeen, Nina Scolnik, Kei Akagi, Doug Johnson, and Ray Santisi; percussion with samba schools Mangueira and Grande Rio (Rio de Janeiro), Oficina de Investigação Musical and Capoeira Kilombolas (Salvador da Bahia), and Jorge Alabê (NewYork); and composition with Yakov Gubanov, Tibor Pusztai, Marti Epstein, and Chris Dobrian.