Guest ArtistsJohn Jesensky, conductor

Composer and conductor John Jesensky earned his B.M. in music composition from the Hartt School of Music under the tutelage of composer Stephen Gryc, as well as leading wind ensemble conductor Glen Adsit. Mr. Jesensky was awarded his M.M. in film composition from New York University, where he studied with John Hughes’ longtime collaborator, composer/conductor Ira Newborn.

During his tenure at NYU, Mr. Jesensky’s score to Michael Daugherty’s short, Season’s Greetings won the Skirball Film Scoring Competition. Upon graduation, he was presented the Elmer Bernstein Award for Film Composition.

Several of his scores have made appearances and won awards at events such as the Cannes Film Festival, L.A. Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Hollyshorts Film Festival, D.C. Film Festival and Phoenix Film Festival.

During his conducting tenure, he has directed some of the finest ensembles within North America and Europe in performance of concerts including Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage, The Godfather: Live and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: In Concert.

Mr. Jesensky remains an active and prolific composer in Los Angeles, writing music for short and feature-length films, while also composing/conducting classical works for chamber and orchestral ensembles.