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 explores themes of family, identity, and the intersections of tradition and modern life, creating theatrical experiences that celebrate community, resilience, and joy. He is a 2025 James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation Spark Artist Award winner ($25,000), a 2026 Kleban Prize finalist for libretto writing, winner of the 2026 B. Iden Payne Award for Outstanding Original Score (Zapata), a 2026 Austin Critics Circle nominee, a three-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. 

His award-winning 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, produced by Tony award-winning Broadway producer, Jim Kierstead, along with Broadway producer Nicole La Fountaine, New York Theatre Barn, and NAMT. His new corrido opera, The Crown Maker, received a 2026 world premiere production at Portland Opera, and desert in was given a world premiere at Boston Lyric Opera and Long Beach Opera.

Jesse’s work has been developed and presented at the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals, The Orchard Project, NAMT, New York Theatre Barn, Live & In Color, The 24 Hour Plays, Latinx Theatre Commons, Musical Theater West, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Lab, ZACH Theatre, Austin Latinx New Play Festival, Teatro Vivo, Oregon Cabaret, Portland Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in collaboration with PCPA Theater (artist-in residence), and Cutting Ball Theater. His music has been showcased on Playbill Songwriter Series, The Green Room 42 in NYC (sold-out concert), the Broadway Housing Committee Gala hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda, 2026 TYA/USA National Conference, NAMT, First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York and more. His music is available on all major streaming platforms and is in regular rotation on Sirius XM On Broadway and Musical Theatre Radio.

Current commissions include Letters From Almeda: A Song Cycle (Grants Pass High School) 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 Dr. Seuss Estate (world premiere of a Spanish translation of “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”), The Old Globe, Je’Caryous Entertainment, Cleveland Playhouse, 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 many others. Jesse has arranged music for the Broadway League’s The Jimmy Awards (2023-2025) and the inaugural Arsht Center Arshtie Awards (2026).

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, in partnership with Concord Theatricals, Disney Theatrical Productions, and the NMPA Songs Foundation. He 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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