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Grammy Award winner shares advice and his musical talents with RE upper schoolers

Ransom Everglades welcomed eight-time Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste to the upper school on February 27 for an inspiring conversation and impromptu performance with members of the RE Combo. During a conversation on the Lewis Family Auditorium stage that lasted nearly an hour, Batiste shared tidbits of musical and career advice, and then made an offer that stunned RE student-musicians seated in the audience: He invited them to join him in a jazz jam session. Members of the RE Combo leaped to their feet, rushing backstage to grab their instruments. Within minutes, they were performing with Batiste, who had brought his melodica.
The student-musicians – Miranda Silva '26, Simone Carrasco '27, Israel Garcia '28, Morgan Williams '26, Auguste Houlle '27, Lucas Noblet '28 and Isaac Zide '28 – pulled out a piece that had been preparing for the Rock 4 Relief concert that night, and Batiste joined in. When they finished the number, the student body responded with a standing ovation. Batiste remained to take a photo with the RE student performers and Head of School Rachel Rodriguez in the middle of the auditorium stage. 

Prior to the performance, Batiste participated in a question-and-answer session with Paula Wallace, founder and president of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). An actor, composer, musician, singer and former musical director of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Batiste shared insights on his background, career and approach to performing and training.

Among Batiste's notable comments:
  • "Confidence comes from purpose when it's not rooted in ego." 
  • "There's a way to make yourself expand and evolve when you find motivation that's bigger than yourself."
  • "What I love about music is that it's the language of the invisible."
  • "I don't look at music as a job. It's a spiritual practice."
  • "Sometimes the deadline is less important than the art."
  • "Discipline is everything. It's something you grow to love more and more."
Wallace announced that Batiste, who gave the 2025 commencement address at SCAD, would begin next fall as the Founding Director of Vocal Performance. RE Visual Arts Department Chair Matt Stock is a graduate of SCAD. Batiste visited Ransom Everglades in advance of his performance that night at the Montreux Jazz Festival Miami.
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2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: 305 250 6850

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3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: 305 460 8800

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Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.


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