Nicky Barbato (Guitar)
Nicky Barbato is a guitarist, educator, and Westchester native. He is a 2009 alumnus of Lagond Music School, and studied with Russ DeFilippis, Charlie Lagond, Jon Irabagon, Greg Mayo, and Chris Anderson. As a member of one of the school’s ultimate performance bands, Standing Room Only, he toured Montreal, Baltimore, and the Northeastern United States, and also played renowned New York City venues, including The Bitter End and the Knitting Factory.
From there, Barbato attended Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA), and graduated in 2013 with an undergraduate degree in guitar performance. Here, he studied with Richie Hart, Jim Stinnett, Ken Pullig, Jack Pezanelli, Eguie Castrillo, and Bernardo Hernandez, among others. He was also involved with original hip-hop and singer/songwriter projects, playing a variety of Boston venues.
Barbato recently graduated from New York University (New York, NY) with a master’s degree in Music Education, receiving an award for Outstanding Potential in the Field of Music Education. He also studied with Brad Shepik, Jean Michel-Pilc, and Michael Breaux in a variety of small and large ensembles in the university’s jazz department. Barbato’s second year at NYU was spent working in New York City’s public school system. He completed his student teaching at P.S. 126 MAT, a middle school in Chinatown, teaching band, percussion, music appreciation, and beginner guitar classes. He also student taught general music and the Music and the Brain curriculum at Midtown West, an elementary school in Manhattan.
Barbato has been teaching at Lagond since the summer of 2010. Currently, he teaches private lessons and the College Prep program during both the summer and school year. Outside of Lagond, his main focus is composing original instrumental music and developing an image for a new solo project.
