THIS PAGE AUTOMATICALLY FORWARDS TO THE NEW WEB SITE OF JOHN SAWOSKI at http://www.LAPianist.com. If you are not taken there automatically, please click the link.

 

Feb 2006 News: Concert with Perviz, Academy Awards, Sawoski Music in TV Movie, Married Flutes Concert, Staar Video Clip, and More

A Tribute to Nick Perito

Two Special LA Philharmonic Performances

Good Performances of John Sawoski's Orchestrations

Good Reviews for Zemeckis Band, Arranged and MD'd by John Sawoski

Sawoski Remotely Triggers Piano While Musical Directing I Remember You

DVD of Winning Ugly (scored by John Sawoski) Now Available

Other Continuing Engagements: Gregg Marx, Christopher Walker

Press Releases and News

February 2006:

February 24 - Concert at Santa Monica College with Perviz Sawoski and Special Guests:

CONTACT:   Bruce Smith  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
        Public Information Officer      DATE: Feb. 15, 2006
        (310) 434-4209  www.smc.edu

BENEFIT CONCERT FEATURES LATIN SONGS,

GUEST FLAMENCO ARTIST CARLA LUNA

        Santa Monica College is pleased to present a benefit concert for the SMC Musical Theatre that will feature songs by Latin American and Spanish composers and a guest performance by legendary flamenco dancer Carla Luna.

        The benefit concert – featuring vocalist Perviz Sawoski and pianist John Sawoski – will be held at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 in the SMC Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica.

        Also on the bill will be guest artist and acclaimed tenor Dennis Parnell.

        The concert will feature the songs of Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla, Gustavino, Rodrigo, Vitier and other Latin American and Spanish composers.

        Tickets are $10. Call (310) 434-4323 or (310) 434-3000.

March 4, 2006:

John Sawoski supervises, arranges, plays, and conducts the music for the Kodak Cinematography Awards Ceremonies (private event for cinematographers nominated for Academy Awards, featuring musical excerpts from the nominated films/TV shows).

March through December 2006:

John Sawoski music directs for The Leading Ladies:

• Mar. 12, 2006 - private event in Beverly Hills.
• May 6, 2006 - concert at Ocean Hills, in Oceanside, CA.
• June 11, 2006 - concert at Sun Lakes, Banning, CA.
• December 9, 2006 - concert at Norris Center, Rolling Hills Estates, CA.

RECENT EVENTS:

December 2005:

December 2 - John Sawoski accompanied tenor Dennis McNeil at The City of Angels Christmas Gala at the California Club, organized by Catholic Charities Los Angeles. This annual formal event is organized by Catholic Charities' Board of Trustees and the Knights and Dames of Malta, the Knights and Dames of St. Gregory, and the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre. The proceeds from this year's Gala, over $260,000, benefit poor and homeless families including hurricane evacuees.

December 3 and 4 - John Sawoski played keyboards with the orchestra for Disneyland's Annual Candlelight Concert, featuring a 650-voice choir, soloists including guest guitarist Peter Woodford, and guest narrator Dick Van Dyke. Town Square, Disneyland. The orchestra, made up mostly of Los Angeles studio musicians, performed in a beautifully moving collection of Christmas music, from Handel's Hallelujah Chorus to songs and carols arranged by Bob Krogstad, John Rutter, Jack Askew, Peter Knight, Ken Whitcomb, musical director Bruce Healey, and others. The conductor was Nancy Sulahian, Director of Chamber Singers in the Los Angeles Master Chorale. To get an idea of what this unadvertised yet huge event is like for Disneyland Park visitors, click here.

December 10 and 11 - John Sawoski played piano and music directed SEASON'S GREETINGS WITH THE LEADING LADIES at Queen Creek Performing Arts Center http://www.qcpac.com/ (near Phoenix, AZ).

Dec. 10, 2005 at 8pm, Dec. 11, 2005 at 3pm.
Queen Creek Performing Arts Center
22149 E. Ocotillo Road
Queen Creek, AZ 85242
Box Office:  (480) 987-5964 or visit http://www.qcpac.com/

For more information please click: http://leadingladies.home.mindspring.com/news.htm

December 12-16 - The Leading Ladies - http://www.TheLeadingLadies.com - performed John Sawoski's arrangements on tour on the Gulf Coast with Holiday Express - http://www.holidayexpress.org/ , bringing Christmas cheer and relief to hurricane victims and workers in several cities, starting and ending in New Orleans. Click here to read more details: Holiday Express in the Gulf 2005

December 18 - John Sawoski accompanied Lessons and Carols at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Parish in Los Angeles under the direction of renowned composer Christopher Walker. This festive hour of the words and music of Christmas, attended by twice as many as in prior years, was "by far the best yet," according to Christopher Walker, and "appreciative comments about the singing were numerous and heartfelt."

December 25 - John Sawoski appears on camera in one scene of the new Warner Brothers film Rumor Has It. The on-camera band was organized and supervised by Rick Fleishman of Visual Music. In the film, Jennifer Aniston plays a woman who learns that her family was the inspiration for the book and film "The Graduate" -- and that she just might be the offspring of the well-documented event.

RECORDING:

John Sawoski recently recorded with pianist Alan Steinberger for Lucas Richman's annual BMI Conducting Workshop. Also, look for vibraphonist Carl Rigoli's upcoming release, Journey, on Carmelo Recordings, on which John Sawoski plays Alan Alper's string section arrangements on keyboards, along with pianist John Rodby, drummer Mark Stevens, bassist Richard Maloof, and vibraphonist/percussionist/composer Carl Rigoli. Other recent activities in the studio include work on cabaret artist Deborah Downey's album recorded live at the Gardenia, as well as 11 tracks recorded for vocalist Gregg Marx, which may become part of an album.

Other Recent Performances:

• John Sawoski accompanied Broadway performer Clent Bowers in a special cabaret appearance at Masquers Cabaret in Los Angeles on Oct. 29.
• John Sawoski music directed for cabaret artist Clay Crosby in Songs of the Night Sky at the Gardenia Room. See Cabaret West Spotlight. Also appearing on the show was renowned Los Angeles studio cellist Kevan Torfeh.
• Songs for A New World - Santa Monica College

John Sawoski Gives Two Special Performances for the Los Angeles Philharmonic:

On May 16, 2005, John Sawoski accompanied Soprano Lisa Vroman in a private performance for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association Board Of Directors, hosted by LA Philharmonic Chairman John F. Hotchkis. The performance included musical theatre highlights, some new material, and a special Finnish folk song, performed in honor of conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, who later commented that the song was "perfect." Also in attendance were former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, Ginny Mancini (widow of Henry Mancini), and many other dignitaries.

On June 11, John Sawoski accompanied Baritone Rod Gilfry in a private performance for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association Business and Professional Committee, in the Fifth Floor ballroom at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The performance included musical theatre selections, traditional opera arias, and two pieces from a new opera, Margaret Garner, by Nobel Prize-winning author and librettist Toni Morrison and Grammy-winning composer Richard Danielpour. Co-commissioned with the Cincinnati Opera (July 2005) and the Opera Company of Philadelphia (Jan./Feb. 2006), and based on a true historical event, it also stars Denyce Graves, Jessye Norman and Gregg Baker, and had its world premiere with Detroit's Michigan Opera Theatre in May 2005.

DVD's of Rod Gilfry's wonderfully entertaining one-man show, My Heart Is So Full of You, filmed in February 2004 during sold-out performances at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California, are available at http://www.gilfrydvd.com/  .

Good Performances of John Sawoski's Orchestrations:

John Sawoski's orchestration of Danny Boy, was performed March 19, 2005 by The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra and tenors Matthew Surapine (Metropolitan Opera) and Jim Russell (New York City Opera). Comments included:

"The music was the equal of any major orchestra in America... a hidden jewel."

- Massachusetts State Senator Richard T. Moore, Milford Daily News, Milford, Mass.

"The audience listened to the words of these classic ballads, and couldn’t help shed a tear or two... no one held back their applause when the songs were over – the audience couldn’t contain themselves. Irish eyes were surely smiling!" Susan McWade Surapine

John Sawoski's orchestrations for The Leading Ladies, performed in concert May 22 by the Capistrano Valley Symphony Orchestra with top Los Angeles studio musicians like trumpeter Rick Baptist, were also well-received. More upcoming concerts and events by the Leading Ladies will feature musical direction and arrangements by John Sawoski. Stay in touch with The Leading Ladies for more information, via their web site: http://www.TheLeadingLadies.com . Be sure to sign up for the email mailing list.

Good Reviews for Zemeckis Band, Arranged and Musical Directed by John Sawoski:

John Sawoski arranged and musical directed for Staar, a one-woman original revue starring Leslie Zemeckis, which ran Mondays from April 11 to May 16, 2005, and was featured on Entertainment Tonight, Playboy Radio, KNAC radio, and KTLA-TV. Produced by Donalee Austin. Executive Producer Robert Zemeckis.  The Tolucan Times (April 21, 2005) and Entertainment News called the band, playing several arrangements by John Sawoski, a "hot razzmatazz jazz band." The band consists of tenor saxophonist Ben Wendell, trombonist Garrett Smith, drummer Richard Martinez, and John Sawoski at the piano (as well as guest conductor Ed Vodicka).

John Sawoski Remotely Triggers Piano While Musical Directing I Remember You

John Sawoski's musical direction of Bill Hayes, Lee Meriwether, and Caryn Richman, and piano-playing for the play I Remember You at Norris Center for the Performing Arts in Rolling Hills Estates, CA in May 2005, was "well realized by musical director John Sawoski's offstage playing" (Los Angeles Times). An acoustic piano on stage, actually triggered remotely (with the PianoDisc system, from an offstage MIDI keyboard) by John Sawoski, appeared to be played by Bill Hayes, convincingly enough to make the Palos Verdes Peninsula News state that "a charming Bill Hayes portrays the piano player with conviction, and to some patrons' surprise, he even plays his own piano, with musical director John Sawoski filling in seamlessly behind a scrim." After that review appeared, Bill Hayes began making a nightly curtain call speech asking how the audience enjoyed his playing, and subsequently confessing that he didn't play a single note. Audiences also enjoyed John Sawoski's moving arrangement of "The Water Is Wide," sung by the cast in the final scene nightly. A grand piano and the PianoDisc system were graciously provided by Kawai.

DVD of Winning Ugly (scored by John Sawoski) Now Available

The film, Winning Ugly: Twenty Years Later, a retrospective video about the 1983 American League West Champion Chicago White Sox, with original music score by John Sawoski, is now available on DVD as well as VHS, at all White Sox home games this season at U.S. Cellular Field.

Click here for an audio clip of the End Credits Theme (2.04MB MP3, 1:46)

For more Film and TV music clips by John Sawoski, please see John Sawoski's newly-updated Music for the Visual Media demonstration area.

Other Continuing Engagements:

The last Wednesday of Each Month:

Last Wednesday of Each Month from 6:30 to 10:15 pm - John Sawoski plays piano, arranges, and music directs for Emmy Award-winning actor and vocalist Gregg Marx at Maggiano's Little Italy at The Grove. The group features veteran jazz bassist Nedra Wheeler and drummer Jack LeCompte. http://www.reviewplays.com says: Anyone who wants to feel the sounds of love should bring his/her significant other for a significant evening of song. Few singers have the magic in the voice that Gregg brings, and even fewer can reach through to your heart and play the love strings like a harp. The musical platter is full and rich, and everyone gets a little something they like. Maggiano's Little Italy at The Grove is located at 189 The Grove Drive Z80, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323-965-9665). No cover charge or reservations necessary.

Sundays 9 am: John Sawoski accompanies for the Caritas Chorus at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Parish in Los Angeles under the direction of renowned composer Christopher Walker. St. Paul's is located at: 10750 Ohio Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024.