Jon Batiste delivers commencement address to Savannah College of Art and Design graduating class

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Jon Batiste speaks at the Savannah College of Art and Design's spring 2025 commencement ceremony at the Savannah Convention Center on May 30.

Credit: Savannah College of Art and Design

Grammy- and Academy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste addressed graduates of the Savannah College of Art and Design at the school's commencement ceremony Friday, urging them to embrace life's unexpected challenges and to live in the present moment.

Speaking at the Savannah Convention Center, the 38-year-old composer and multi-instrumentalist relayed, as an example, the 2022 premiere of his American Symphony at New York's Carnegie Hall when the lights went out, prompting him to improvise a piano solo.

"It became a part of the symphony in that moment until the power came back on, and then we went into the first movement without a hitch," Batiste said, adding that the audience thought the outage was part of the performance.

"This is something that happens all the time in our lives as we walk around," he added. "We don't know who we're going to meet. We don't know what's around the corner. We don't know what we're even always capable of."

Batiste also emphasized the significance of the commencement ceremony itself, encouraging students to fully absorb the moment before stepping into their professional lives by asking them to pause and remember every detail as if they were "planning to write your memoir today."

The Louisiana native reflected on how artists must remain constantly open to the world around them, explaining that creative professionals must "live a life where your receptors are constantly up" in order to receive transform inspiration into art that becomes "a soundtrack to people's lives."

Urging graduates to thoughtfully decide "how you want to spend your time and how you want to marshal your power," Batiste told graduates that each person is "the culmination of your entire lineage" and that "humanity is a collaboration across time, across epochs."

Before taking the podium, Batiste was awarded an honorary doctorate by SCAD president and co-founder Paula Wallace. Batiste is scheduled to also address SCAD graduates in Atlanta on Saturday, where Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens will receive an honorary doctorate.

The ceremony marked a milestone for the institution: With approximately 4,200 graduates across its Savannah and Atlanta campuses, as well as online learning programs, the class of 2025 is the largest in SCAD's history.

Founded in 1978, SCAD conferred its first degrees in 1982, when the inaugural class consisted of only eight students.

Since then, enrollment has grown to more than 17,500 students across more than 40 academic programs.