B I O G R A P H Y
JOHN BAXINDINE’s work as a composer and arranger has been performed from Manila to Munich, by way of Carnegie Hall.
His arrangements and orchestrations for the recent solo albums of Cheyenne Jackson (Renaissance) and Philip Chaffin (Somethin’ Real Special, the Bistro Award–winning Will He Like Me?) have received considerable praise (“fantastic,” “rapturous,” “compelling,” "genius").
John was the orchestrator and lead arranger for the post-Broadway revision of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which toured the United States and Canada in 2008-2009. Since then, John’s work has been heard in the 2009-2010 U.K. tour, and in every subsequent international production.
Other credits include:
Recordings: Something for the Boys 2018 Studio Cast Album (music supervisor, orchestrator), Rupert Holmes's Swing (piano soloist).
Broadway: Chance and Chemistry: A Celebration of Frank Loesser (orchestration supervisor).
National and International Tours: I Love a Piano (music direction, Japan Tour), Der gelbe Stern (arrangements, Australian Tour 2011, NYMF 2014), Evanescence: Synthesis (pianist, three performances, 2017-2018).
New York: Kurt Weill on Broadway (pianist, Symphony Space, with Melissa Errico and Ron Raines), Panning for Gold (arranger, 92nd St. Y, with Lorna Luft and Lillias White), Cougar: The Musical (composer, title song, St. Luke's Theatre), The Harlem Ladies' Knittin' and Bitchin' Society (MD/arranger, York Theatre), Yank! (music director, York Theatre), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (music director, 20th anniversary concert, with Sally Struthers and Brian d'Arcy James), and The Fartiste (arranger/conductor, FringeNYC 2006).
Regional: Parade (Villanova University Theater; Barrymore Award nomination), Saving Aimee (a.k.a. Scandalous; White Plains PAC), Pal Joey, Casino Paradise (Prince Music Theater).
Since 2012, John has worked extensively with the Kurt Weill Foundation as arranger, editor, and consultant—restoring Weill’s music for the ongoing Kurt Weill Edition, creating new concert suites (Kleine Zaubernachtmusik), and orchestrating material Weill left incomplete at his death (“Dirge for Two Veterans”).
For several years John served as assistant to the celebrated orchestrator Jonathan Tunick. Their projects together included The Great Ostrovsky (Cy Coleman's final musical, Prince Music Theater), Meet John Doe (Ford’s Theater), and the infamous Paradise Found (Menier Chocolate Factory).
John graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, where his groundbreaking thesis on Leonard Bernstein’s Candide received the Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize. John has served on the faculties of the University of Rochester and the University of the Arts.