Batiste encouraged students to look inward to define the meaning behind their own creative practices — a central theme that emerged during the students’ discussion with the musician, whose resume includes co-composing the Academy Award-winning score for the Pixar animated film “Soul,” serving as bandleader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and receiving 20 Grammy Award nominations, including a 2022 win for album of the year. 

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that people forget failure and success … or that success and failure isn’t really a thing — it’s an illusion,” Batiste said. “It’s an opportunity for you to learn and an opportunity to see more of what it is you want to do, or what it is you want to work on. You’ve got to frame it that way, whether you’re playing the Super Bowl or playing Smalls [an intimate jazz club in New York City].” 

Batiste, who is scheduled to sing the national anthem at this year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans on Feb. 9, also shared his experiences as a young musician growing up in Louisiana and then attending the Juilliard School in New York. He described how he treated the city as his musical classroom, constantly taking the initiative to seek out educational opportunities in and out of school, including figuring out a way to meet acclaimed trumpeter Roy Hargrove, with whom he later went on to tour. 

Batiste’s conversation with students was part of a weekend-long visit to Brown on Jan. 25 and 26, hosted by the Brown Arts Institute. It followed a Jan. 23 campus conversation with Tony and Grammy award-winning actor Daveed Diggs — all part of the inaugural festivities to usher in Brown 2026, a campus-wide initiative that marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States through an exploration of the important role of universities in fostering open and democratic societies. 

“Some artists are said to be before their time — Batiste is profoundly of our time, and like so many of our students at Brown, uses art to critically reflect on and intervene in our contemporary moment,” said Brown Arts Institute Faculty Director Sydney Skybetter, an associate professor of theatre arts and performance studies. “The Brown Arts Institute team, the music department and Brown 2026 committee brought Batiste to campus because his artistry offers profound insights into what it means to be an artist right now and illustrates how live performance can facilitate critical engagement with the past so as to build toward ever more equitable futures.” 

Brown community inspired by joyful performance, generous advice 

Batiste kicked off his campus visit by performing a sold-out concert in The Lindemann in Brown’s Perelman Arts District for about 400 members of the University community who were awarded free tickets through a lottery.  Following Sunday’s master class with students, he spoke alongside his wife, author Suleika Jaouad, in an open-to-the-public conversation moderated by Assistant Professor of the Arts and Africana Studies Lisa Biggs before a screening of the documentary film “American Symphony.” Released in 2023, the documentary follows the couple in 2022 as Batiste experienced career high points, including receiving 11 Grammy nominations and preparing to debut an original symphony at Carnegie Hall, while Jaouad underwent treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. 

Jaouad, who joined the audience for Batiste’s master class, said that the questions students asked him about purpose and artmaking reminded her of the emotions she felt as a graduating senior at Princeton in 2010. 

“Our lives are a series of coming-of-age arcs,” said Jaouad, author of the bestselling memoir, “Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted.” “That question of, ‘How do we make a life? How do we make meaning?’ — it’s an ongoing question, and what I’ve learned from Jon is the necessity and the power of improvisation.” 

Batiste’s improvisational skills and joyful performance style were on full display during his 90-minute concert Saturday evening in The Lindemann’s main performance hall, where he sang and played more than a half-dozen instruments. His wide-ranging set included the upbeat “Freedom” from his Grammy Award-winning album “We Are,” and numerous other original and cover songs performed with his five-member band. He also performed solo renditions at the piano of “Moonlight Sonata Blues,” from his 2024 album “Beethoven Blues,” “The Star-Spangled Banner” and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Batiste and his band concluded the show with a spirited “love riot,” during which they moved into the audience to high-five, shake hands with and hug audience members, all while continuing to play. 

“I’m always thinking of music as just this spiritual practice,” Batiste said. 

In his conversation with students at the master class, Batiste shared his appreciation for Brown’s multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning. He specifically encouraged them to take courses in the humanities, including in religion and philosophy, to enhance their musical practices. 

“Generate an unbiased curiosity towards everything you encounter and dig deep,” Batiste said. 

He also offered guidance on how to communicate within a band, spoke about how he discovers under-the-radar artists to collaborate with — mainly on YouTube and Instagram — and encouraged students to reach out to some up-and-coming musicians. In addition, Batiste had advice for faculty members working with student-artists: don’t forget to teach them about self-care. 

“Your whole life you’re going to be giving — giving on stage, giving to the audience, giving to your craft,” he said. “You’ve got to figure out how to get replenished, and as kids, we don’t really know that.” 

Brown senior Bryce Gray, who aspires to work in musical theater, said that learning from Batiste, whom he has long looked up to, motivated him as he contemplates what path to pursue after graduation. 

“When I heard that he was coming to campus, I immediately thought, ‘I need to find a way to get into that room,’” said Gray, who plays the clarinet and piano. “I’m really glad that I did because as someone who is trying to go into a career in the performing arts, this whole experience felt very validating.” 

Ryder Lippman, a junior concentrating in music and comparative literature, said that learning from Batiste and playing music together will resonate with him for a long time. 

“It was really inspiring how enthusiastic he was, and how open he was to teach and create with us in community,” Lippman said. “He was so generous with his time and with his approach.”