John Wojciechowski

Saxophonist John Wojciechowski, of whom the Chicago Tribune’s Howard Reich wrote: “…technically accomplished, musically profound and harmonically daring” is originally from Detroit and has spent the last decade performing and teaching in Chicago. In addition to leading his own groups, some of the groups he has performed or recorded with include The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, The Woody Herman Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The Milwaukee Symphony, Clark Terry, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Charlie Haden, and Kurt Elling among others.

John was also a finalist in the 1996 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.

John is a member of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Dana Hall’s “Spring”, the Jeff Campbell Trio (w/John Hollenbeck), the Chicago Yestet, Ryan Cohan’s “The River Sextet” and the Rob Parton Big Band. He also regularly performs with many of the top musicians in Chicago as well as abroad.

After performing on dozens of recordings as a sideman in the past 15 years, John released his first recording as a leader in the fall of 2009. Entitled “Lexicon,” it features 9 of his original compositions as well as inspired by Dana Hall on drums, Dave Miller on guitar, Ron Perrillo on piano and Dennis Carroll on bass.

Besides being an active performer, John (a National Board Certified Teacher), is also a jazz educator noted for his versatility, creativity and enthusiasm. He has taught at the public school as well as university levels and has appeared all over the country as a guest artist and clinician. He is currently on the music faculty at St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, Illinois where he teaches Jazz Bands and Music Theory. His student groups have performed at the IAJE Conference, Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and the Illinois All-State Music Educator’s Conference. In addition to his public school teaching, he has also taught at Northern Illinois University as well as Northwestern University.

Plays on

On the Scene with John Wojciechowski