The Music of John Sawoski

John Sawoski served as music director and conductor for The SpongeBob Musical (Theatre for Young Audiences Edition) at Santa Monica College. The production brought a cast of 35 to SMC’s Main Stage with a five-member live band: Alex Lui, Pathik Desai, Tim Christensen, Joe Martone, and Satoshi Kirisawa. The energetic score includes songs by David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend,… Read More

Santa Monica College’s colorful production of The SpongeBob Musical completed its six-performance run on July 26. Directed by Perviz Sawoski, with music direction and conducting by John Sawoski, the show filled SMC’s Main Stage with a cast of 35 and a five-piece live band.   The band featured Alex Lui, Pathik Desai, Tim Christensen, Joe Martone, and Satoshi Kirisawa. After… Read More

John Sawoski served as project coordinator for Judy Whitmore’s album This Is Home, produced by Chris Walden and released in July 2026. The album celebrates America’s 250th anniversary through a collection of songs about home, identity, and shared experience. Watch the video preview and read the Americana Highways feature. Read the original SawoskiMusic announcement. Read More

Ryan Moore’s “Feeling Alright” is now available, featuring John Sawoski on digital synthesizers and Kevin Winard on drums. The track was produced by Ryan Moore and John Sawoski. Recording took place at Ryan Moore Studios in the Pacific Northwest and at the Sawoski Music Group in Los Angeles. Gordon Davidson mixed the track at Abbey Road Studios in London with… Read More

John Sawoski returned to the Modesto Symphony for Jurassic Park Live in Concert, performing the celesta and synth parts with the orchestra on John Williams’s celebrated score while the complete film played on the big screen. Ryan Murray conducted. Live-to-picture concerts demand exact synchronization, flexibility, and close coordination between the conductor, orchestra, and film. The engagement continued John’s work performing… Read More

John Sawoski was on his way to see Santa Monica College’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music when music director Gary Gray called with an emergency request: could John step in and play the piano part? Although he had never played the show, John changed into concert black, headed to the theatre, and jumped into one of Sondheim’s… Read More

John Sawoski performed in a sold-out Westwood concert featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem and two works by film composer Miklós Rózsa. The orchestra was made up largely of Los Angeles studio musicians and was conducted by Dan Redfeld. John and Dan previously worked together on The Secret Garden at the Ahmanson Theatre and on orchestral demos for the new musical… Read More

Two instrumental versions of Ryan Moore’s song “Life Goes On” reached SoundCloud’s list of 50 trending jazz tracks. John Sawoski co-produced and arranged the recordings with Ryan Moore, orchestrated the music, and performed on acoustic grand piano. The sessions also feature saxophonist Larry Klimas, drummer and percussionist Kevin Winard, the Hungarian Studio Orchestra, and conductor Krisztián Balassa. The orchestra was… Read More