Marc-Jeffrey ‘MJ’ Bautista

Born to both Filipino parents, 17-year old Marc-Jeffrey Bautista was born and raised in Cerritos, California.  Marc is an all-around musician who learned how to play the piano at age seven, studying serious classical music until a couple of years ago, surrendered himself to jazz musical yearnings, and happily switched gears from Beethoven to Billy Strayhorn, into the world of Jazz.

Aside from piano, Marc started playing trumpet at age nine and through his senior years.  He performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with the Cerritos School Jazz Band. 

Marc recently graduated with honors at Cerritos High School and just started attending Cypress College in Orange County in between showbiz career.  

Marc wrote an improvisational piano piece entitled “No Limits” and has been performing it whenever there is an opportunity.  He wants to write more jazz oriented piano pieces with varied influences of Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck, and ragtime pianist Scott Joplin.

Marc started singing at age four when he became the lead singer for the THE ABC ROCK in Pre-School.  At eight, he joined the choir of Holy Family Catholic Church and performed in many church’s fundraisers for the homeless.

His dancing skills came out at age six when he formed a dance group called COOLITS.  When he turned ten, he was awestruck with Michael Jackson’s “moon walk” dance virtuosity.  He collected all of The Gloved One’s DVDs and CDs, and spent voluminous hours trying to imitate his dance routines.  It paid off for him during the Cerritos High School’s annual Black History Month, where he was unanimously picked to dance to Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous.” 

His monicker of MJ stuck, as he doesn’t mind having MJ as his initials.  It was a big privilege for him to perform as Michael Jackson and the dance routine of “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” this last Halloween (2009) with the Prestige Dance Touring Company performing at the Grove, The Kodak Theatre, hopping from one venue to another in just one Halloween night. 

Marc never stops in honing his craft.  He enrolled at the Premiere School of Music Performance in Orange County under the tutelage of recording artist/composers/songwriters Gale Stoddard on piano, Roland Valentino on voice, and Lesliann Stoddard on guitar.

Very athletic and a sportsminded person, Marc holds a black belter title in Tae Kwon Do and enjoys outdoor sports such as ice skating, roller blading, roller skating, skateboarding, softball, soccer, softball, football, basketball, and swimming.

Marc has a list of theatrical credits.  One of his goals is to be accepted by the East-West Players of Los Angeles, and join the throngs of popular talented Asian actors who have performed on television, film, and theatre.