Kent Baker Piano/Musical Director Poultney, Vermont

Kent Baker is a classically-trained pianist and accompanist with a degree in Music Education from the Crane School of Music, where he studied piano with Frank Iogha and Ronald Tarr.   Growing up, he was fortunate to study with (among others) Edward Hausman, who was a Schirmer prize winner at Juilliard, and Lucia Lawrence, a Catholic organist who taught him attention to detail at a young age.

While at Crane, Kent served as accompanist for the Collegiate Singers and Crane Chorus, under the direction of his conducting mentor and friend, Brock McElheran. He has accompanied numerous festival ensembles as well as readings under Franz Allers, Don Besig, Robert DeCormier, Zubin Mehta, and others. His performances include the worldwide telecast of the Statue of Liberty Centenary opening ceremonies on Governor’s Island, the closing concerts premiering William Schumann’s "On Freedom’s Ground" at Lincoln Center, the 1986 New York State School Music Association Winter Conference at Kiamesha Lake, the 1986 American Choral Directors’ Association National Festival at New York City and the 1991 Vermont Bicentennial Band and Chorus.

Kent is an instructor at Castleton State College, teaching music appreciation, beginning classroom piano, applied jazz piano and jazz combos. He is the music director of the forty-piece Poultney-Granville Town Band. An organist since the age of ten, he serves as organist and choir director for St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Church, St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church and the Poultney United Methodist Church. He is an adjudicator for the New England Festival Music Association.

Kent has adjudicated for the Vermont Music Educators’ Association scholarship committee, the Virginia Association of Independent Schools and has served as a panelist for the Vermont Council on the Arts (NEA) Arts-in-Education grants. He has served as music director and pianist for the Marble City Swing Band based in Rutland, VT and as pianist for many jazz combos. He served as the staff pianist and applied piano instructor at Green Mountain College (Poultney, VT) and as accompanist for choruses and musicals at Castleton (VT) State College. While serving as music facilitator for the Rutland Southwest Supervisory Union, Kent was named as a Distinguished Leader in Vermont Arts Education by the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education. He also holds a masters degree in computer and information sciences from the University of Phoenix.

Kent has reestablished his private music studio following his seventeen years in public school music education, coaching piano, voice, brass and woodwinds.