"I am so sorry to share that my dad, Dr. John Baboukis, passed away very unexpectedly on 23 November 2024 in Jersey City," his daughter Hilary wrote on her Facebook account.

Born in 1955, Baboukis was well known in Egypt, where he spent more than two decades greatly contributing to the country's music and music education scene.

His stay in Egypt was strongly motivated by the musician's interest in old music forms, as he continued to explore "connections between Arab and Greek music, Byzantine chant, and early Western Medieval music.” 

John Baboukis earned his Doctor of Music degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he made history as the first doctoral student allowed to submit an original composition — his Requiem Mass for chorus, orchestra, and soloists — as a dissertation for a degree in choral conducting. He composed a significant amount of vocal music, along with chamber works and pieces for piano, harpsichord, clavichord, and organ.

Baboukis brought extensive teaching experience to universities in the US and Canada, where he specialized in conducting and choral ensemble direction. His expertise in early music, particularly medieval and Renaissance vocal repertory, led him to establish and direct the Saint Paul Early Music Ensemble, Les voix médiévales de Montréal, and the Lions of Cairo.

In 2005, Baboukis joined the American University in Cairo as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Music Programme, a position he held until his retirement earlier this year. He taught music theory and literature, directed the AUC Chamber Singers, and mentored various musical ensembles during his tenure.

Baboukis also served as conductor for the Cairo Choral Society and the Cairo Festival Orchestra. Over the past 12 years, he led these groups in performances of major works from the Western choral repertoire, including Charpentier’s Messe de minuit and Te Deum, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation and Nelson Mass, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brahms’s German Requiem and Schicksalslied, Beethoven's Mass in C and Choral Fantasy, Mozart’s Requiem, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. He also founded and co-directed the Lions of Cairo, specializing in medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Western music.

Numerous compositions were created during his stay in Egypt and premiered in the country. His concerto for bassoon and string orchestra, Three Walks in Zamalek, premiered in 2013 with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra.

He is survived by his wife, Johanna (Jody), their daughter Hilary, and their son Gregory.