Hello! My name is Jesse Sawaya and I am a thirteen year old pianist, composer violinist, tenor, and songwriter from Missoula Montana. My musical journey started in the womb, when I used to listen to classical music, introducing me to the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Smetana, Chopin, and Ravel. When I was 6 years old, I started playing piano with my lifelong friend Katherine Skinner. She encouraged me to compose my first piece by the time I was 7, which is a 32 bar piece called ‘The Squid.’ When I was 9, I composed a piano Sonata in Cm in 5 movements. As the pandemic hit when I was 9, my love of classical music prompted me to practice and practice. I became the youngest person to win the level 10 Montana Sonatina & Sonata Festival with a performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. I also won scholarships to attend Interlochen Arts Camp to study piano for 2 years. By the time I was 11, I wrote an orchestral rhapsody for piano and orchestra and by the time I was 12, I wrote a 50 minute symphony in Gm. I have studied piano under Nana Shi, Anna Grudskaya, and played for esteemed pianists Lucien Hutt and Barbara Blegan. I study composition under Dr. Amanda Harberg, and won a scholarship to Interlochen for a 6 week program that she leads. I am almost done with my next opera, ‘The Nightingale,’ which I am writing music and libretto. I also have an album coming out this fall which will showcase my contemporary composition. Overall, I live music more than anything, but I have had to overcome the challenges of balancing the rest of my life onto. The challenges I have overcome show me that art is really about turning strife into something beautiful and I encourage all other kids to strive to do the same. I want other artists to be able to feel confident and secure in their work, as our future is in art.
You can find Jesse’s 2024 Spring Music Competition piano performance here.