As a composer, John Mantegna’s primary interests are music for small ensembles and experimental works for solo performers with live electronics, aiming to explore unique timbres and textures made possible by this medium.  His recent works include: Pandora’s Vox for soprano and live electronics, premiered in Lübeck, Germany at the Kyma International Sound Symposium, a brainwave-based composition entitled Wetware Fantasy #1, and a classical guitar solo with live electronics for the a film entitled Natural Perturbations.

John received his BM and MM degrees from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD, where he studied classical guitar, flute, and electronic/computer music. Subsequently, he earned an MS degree in computer science from the Johns Hopkins University and pursued a career in computing, specializing in music-related technology. In 2002, John returned to music full time and is now performing, composing, and teaching classical guitar at the University of Vermont.