Fall 2019 Update: Musicals, Concerts, Recordings, TV, and more

[The Music of John Sawoski]

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Fans, Clients, and Family,

It's been more than three years since I sent my last message to you through this service. I'm very thankful that it's been a very busy time, and I've been blessed with opportunities for many performances and some great writing and recording experiences. I've been working on shows such as Anastasia, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Something Rotten, and Aladdin; recording at Capitol Records Studios; performing in concerts with groups like the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Pasadena Symphony and Pops; playing on TV shows like the Goldbergs; and performing with singers ranging from Placido Domingo to Vanessa Williams. I've posted lots of updates on my Facebook page, but here's more.

In the Studio

I'm currently producing a recording of songs from the Great American Songbook for vocalist Judy Whitmore, along with my producing partner, the Grammy and Emmy-winning composer Michael Patterson. We arranged, orchestrated, and conducted several sessions at Capitol Studios, with some of the best musicians in the world, and now we are finishing the vocals and mixing. I will let you know when the album is released. It should be the best thing I've ever worked on.

Upcoming Performance Highlights

Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, I'll be playing 2nd keyboard in the orchestra pit of Anastasia at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa (I've been subbing during the run). It is such a beautiful show. Check out their videos here, here, and here.

I'll be playing on Disney's incredible Candlelight Concert (with 400+ singers) again the first weekend of December at Disneyland. You can hear me on organ, harpsichord, and music box.

Recent Performance Highlights (since I last updated you): 

• Los Angeles Master Chorale - Great Opera and Film Choruses (electronic keyboards) I used 3 laptops to add some cool sounds to the already-amazing full orchestra in this concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Fortunately I got a little help from Warren Brown, part of Michael Giacchino's music team, who provided the custom sounds I used for Giacchino's "Star Trek Suite." And I could not have set up the rest of the sounds as quickly without using Paul Nahay's "Keyboard Wizard" software from Broadway Performance Systems. Photo of concert here.
• Titanic Live (Synth 1) - New West Symphony
• Keyboardist for national tours of Matilda the Musical, Finding Neverland, Something Rotten, Anastasia, Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Aladdin, at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
• Gregg Marx - many performances throughout California
• Sylvia Brooks - live at Vitello's
• I played piano and synth for Placido Domingo and Il Volo in concert at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles
• The Pageant of the Masters (2008 through 2018) - Laguna Beach
• Pasadena Pops concert of Universal Studios Favorites conducted by Michael Feinstein, featuring Tony Award-Winner Jarrod Spector, Jessie Mueller, and a great group of musicians.
• Riverside Philharmonic and their amazing guest violin soloist Corey Cerovsek, who plays on the "Milanollo" Stradivarius violin, an instrument played, among others, by Christian Ferras, Giovanni Battista Viotti, and Nicolò Paganini.
• Stoneman-Douglas Benefit Concert - You can hear a song I worked on, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as sung by Carrie Manolakos, for this  Parkland benefit concert in Florida, at 0:00 and 0:35 in this clip. Kim Scharnberg was the supervising orchestrator and wrote the choral parts.
• The Goldbergs, Season 6, Episode 11 - I was on camera - they re-used footage from the movie "The Wedding Singer."
• Chapman Celebrates 2018 and 2019 - Keyboardist in orchestra with many great musicians. This year the show featured Vanessa Williams. 

Annual FAQ from January 2018: 

What are some cool things you've worked on?

Below are a few odds and ends I've worked on. Thank you all for making this possible, and thanks to my children for making it necessary (to paraphrase Victor Borge):

Actually recorded in my studio: https://soundcloud.com/johnsawoski/excerpt-jacques-ibert-concerto  from the album "Masterworks for Flute" (to buy it, click the links at that page, and I will get no additional money)

Enjoyed reconnecting with my Italian roots by playing with Il Volo and Placido Domingo last March 23rd at the Microsoft Theater in LA. One of the singers, Gianluca, has even heard of the little village of Paternopoli, where my great-grandparents were from. He said "Oh yes, Paternopoli is very famous." Here's a little clip of a song they sang last night called "Caruso," in which you can actually hear me playing the piano. Check out @IlVoloMilanoIVU's Tweet: https://twitter.com/IlVoloMilanoIVU/status/845266133288697856?s=09 And one more video where you can actually see (blurry) and hear me https://twitter.com/aloradanin/status/845174847801999360

Here's that video of the Hanukkah song that I orchestrated and produced for Shmueli, featuring 30+ great LA studio musicians.

https://youtu.be/VEwDuqwatYw

And info about that album: https://lapianist.com/shmuelis-believe-cd/

Here's a project I did with Van Dyke Parks for a pop concert in Denmark.

Many gigs playing for, arranging for, and MD'ing Gregg Marx, like this one: http://www.vibratogrilljazz.com/events/2016/12/22/gregg-marx

A cool sound-alike project I worked on (secret link available upon request only)

My "office" the first weekend of every December: playing keyboards with the Candlelight Orchestra for 400+ singers and several excellent soloists, this past year with Chris Hemsworth narrating. https://youtu.be/m30weVKvHI4

Adios Nonino Cadenza by John Sawoski on SoundCloud

https://soundcloud.com/john-sawoski/adios-nonino-cadenza

The first album I co-produced with Michael Patterson, played on, arranged, orchestrated, and conducted with 35 studio musicians:

https://lapianist.com/act-three-cd-released-produced-and-musical-directed-by-john-sawoski-co-produced-by-michael-patterson/

Same thing as a YouTube playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt8Gn7W8C2YSeWf1BM6-IMvA4x9YDXgJ3

I'm keyboardist on this album (Mike Lang on piano): https://www.amazon.com/Voodoo-II-Robert-Drasnin/dp/B000P6R6SI/ref=pd_krex_fa_t_dp_img

Another album I produced long ago: http://www.lapianist.com/tannoz.htm

And my one little solo CD (more to come): https://lapianist.com/cinema-amore-cd/

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

John Sawoski

http://www.LAPianist.com

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Dear Friends, Colleagues, Fans, Clients, and Family,

As I hope you realize, this is my email list, SawoskiMusic, to share with you my latest official news and information. This is an announcement-only email list, and it replaces my prior YahooGroups list. To remain on this list, do nothing, and you will receive an average of 6 messages per year, with news and information about me and my distinguished colleagues, and special offers from The Sawoski Music Group. Messages usually highlight upcoming performances, reviews, recording projects, and broadcasts, and occasionally include links to free music. Please note that your membership in this group is private: i.e. - your name and contact information can never be seen by the public or other group members. 

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Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

John Sawoski 

http://www.LAPianist.com

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