Composer-Lyricist, Librettist, & Music Director

Jesse J. Sanchez is an award-winning composer-lyricist, librettist, and music director whose work explores culture, heritage, and identity through expansive, emotionally driven musical storytelling. Named by Playbill as “one of the fastest rising young composers today”, his art often intertwines themes of family, identity, and the intersections of tradition and modern life, creating theatrical experiences that celebrate community, resilience, and joy.

His musical Zapata: A Folklórico Superhero Musical was produced at ZACH Theatre to rave reviews and a sold-out run, and SUEÑOS: Our American Musical had a sold-out workshop production at Las Positas College and released a concept EP album with Broadway producers Jim Kierstead and Nicole La Fountaine, and NAMT. His opera The Crown Maker was produced at Portland Opera, and desert in was produced at Boston Lyric Opera and Long Beach Opera. Other stage work has been developed and presented at the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals, The Orchard Project, New York Theatre Barn, Live & In Color, Musical Theater West, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Lab, ZACH Theatre, Latinx Theatre Commons, Austin Latinx New Play Festival, Oregon Cabaret, Portland Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in collaboration with PCPA (artist-in residence), Cutting Ball Theater.

A 2025 James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation Spark Artist Award winner ($25,000), a 2026 Kleban Prize finalist for libretto writing, a two-time recipient of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Frank Young Grant, an Opera America Digital Excellence in Opera Award finalist, a Milagro Latino Artist Fund Grant recipient, and a VCCA Fellow. 

Current commissions include Zapata: A Folklórico Superhero Musical(Zach Theatre), We Three Queens (Oregon Cabaret), and The Crown Maker (Portland Opera). Past works include Exhaustion Arroyo: Dancin’ Trees in the Ravine (Cutting Ball Theater), desert in (Boston Lyric Opera), Spotlight on Trio (Camelot Theatre), and Black Friday! (Prospect Theatre Lab).

As a music director, Jesse has worked with esteemed theaters and organizations nationwide, including The Old Globe, Je’Caryous Entertainment, South Coast Repertory, Seattle Rep, Portland Center Stage, Denver Center, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Arizona Theatre Company, Alley Theatre, Round House Theatre, O’Neill Music Theatre Conference, New World Stages, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and more.

Jesse has collaborated on new musicals with world renowned musicians including Chicago, Asdru Sierra (Ozomatli), Zap Mama, Stokley Williams (Mint Condition), and others. 

Earlier in his career, Jesse served as a music assistant on the first national tour of Hamilton and the world premiere of The Prince of Egypt (TheatreWorks SV). Jesse has served on national selection panels and mentorship programs for organizations including the Doreen Montalvo Scholarship, The Orchard Project, Opera America, the Oregon Arts Commission, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and the NEA Songwriting Challenge and is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild of America, BMI, MUSE, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures.

He currently serves as Associate Producer (Music) at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a Tony Award–winning organization and one of the country’s preeminent regional theaters. He oversees all music for productions across a 9–11 play and musical repertory, manage music personnel, and implement industry-standard music processes.

When not writing, conducting, or producing, he’s usually chasing stories through his camera lens, wrangling two dogs and two cats, or plotting his next adventure to Disneyland with his wife.

Jesse is represented by Katie Gamelli at Torchlight Artists.

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