John Lee Roberts was raised in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. His teachers have included Dr. Kaye McAfee and Dr. Ann Barnwell Rye at Henderson State University, Joann Baker and John McIntyre at Kansas City Conservatory, Jack Winerock and Carine Gutlerner at the University of Kansas and Andrzej Dutkiewicz at the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland. He received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance degree with honors at the University of Kansas. His Post-Graduate study through the Institute for International Education in Washington, D.C. was as an NSEP scholar and Boren Fellow with study at the Akademia Muzycna im. Frydryka Chopina (Frederic Chopin Academy of Music) in Warsaw, Poland. He has participated in masterclass sessions with a myriad of artists and teachers including Alan Chow, Abby Simon, Claude Frank, Ann Schein, Ralph Votapek, Enrique Graf, Constance Keene, Carine Gutlerner, John McIntyre, Jan Ekier, Richard Angeletti, Sequira Costa, Richard Cass, R. Murray Schaeffer, John Perry and Howard Aibel.

His organ teachers have included Dr. Kaye McAfee and Dr. John Ditto. His composition teachers have included Dr. Charles Hoag, Dr. Andzej Dutikiewicz and masterclass participation with Henryk Gorecki and R. Murray Schaffer. His recent jazz/blues mentors have included Erwin Helfer, David Maxwell and Oscar Peterson.