A Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist, John Robert Santiago started the flute at 13 years old in his school band and currently pursues Master’s studies at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in the studio of Marina Piccinini. A first-generation American with Filipino heritage, John Robert draws artistic inspiration from the dynamic blend of cultures and traditions he experienced throughout his upbringing in Manila and Los Angeles, taking this with him in his musical expression through the flute.

John Robert recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a B.M. in Flute Performance and minor in Philosophy. He is also a graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts with a concentration in classical music performance. His teachers include Marina Piccinini, Denis Bouriakov, Erin Bouriakov, Benjamin Smolen, and Jennifer Olson. Additionally, John Robert has performed in masterclasses for flutists such as Catherine Ransom Karoly, Jim Walker, Philippe Bernold, Anne Diener Zentner, Diana Morgan, Silvia Careddu, Brian Luce, and Demarre McGill. John Robert has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States, Peabody Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchesra, and Colburn Sinfonietta under the batons of conductors such as Gemma New, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Maxim Eshkenazy, Joseph Young, Mei-Ann Chen and David Newman.

From the moment he started the flute, John Robert has dreamed of performing for audiences big and small and throughout his career thus far, he has been heard in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Royce Hall, Miami’s New World Center, UC Davis Mondavi Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Dolby Theatre. John Robert is eager to push the boundaries of instrumental music as an avid performer of new music and has premiered works by composers such as Thea Musgrave, Bruce Stark, Valerie Coleman, and Lera Auerbach. Recently, he performed the world premiere of Thea Musgrave’s Orfeo V as a soloist with the UCLA Philharmonia at the 2024 Hear Now Festival. John Robert has been a featured soloist on NPR’s From The Top (show 380), winner of the Colburn Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, laureate of the Pasadena Arts Council’s Fulcrum Arts Award, finalist in the Mondavi Center National Young Artists Competition and winner of the National YoungArts Foundation Competition in Classical Music. He was previously a UCLA Gluck Foundation Fellow where he was flutist in the Gluck Woodwind Quintet.

John Robert is a strong advocate for public arts engagement having been exposed to music through the public school system and facing numerous instances of adversity due to the fact that he comes from a background where those like him struggle to get past the concert hall front door. Passionate about fostering musical creativity and curiosity for the next generation and passing on traditions from musicians past, John Robert heavily involves himself in music education working as a Teaching Artist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program in addition to maintaining a private teaching studio in Baltimore and Los Angeles.

John Robert is currently based in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore metro area.