About John

Clarinetist, Teacher and Clinician, John Sadak has been instructing and inspiring young musicians in the Charlotte area for the past 18 years. His students are leaders in their school band programs, members of the District and All-State bands, members of the area youth orchestras and, most importantly, are confident and insightful musicians. While some students have gone on to prestigious music schools and become professional musicians, many go on to study other disciplines but keep their love of music and the clarinet alive in college and beyond. Individual instruction is offered in person as well as virtually. Students of all levels are welcome.

John performs with many ensembles in the area including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Greenville Symphony (SC) and Opera Carolina. During July he is a Festival Artist for the Wintergreen Music Festival in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

A native of upstate New York, John earned his MM in Clarinet Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. After graduation he served as Principal Clarinetist for the Miami City Ballet. Two years later he was appointed to the Clarinet/Bass Clarinet chair of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and Florida Grand Opera. John has collaborated with a diverse range of artists including Marvin Hamlisch, John Williams, Ray Charles, Buddy Rich and Ray Charles to Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Cecilia Bartoli, Andrea Bocelli, and the Martha Graham Dance Company. He has recorded for Naxos and Albany Records and has worked as a session musician in New York and Miami.

Prior to his appointment at Wake Forest University in 2014, he served on the music faculties at UNC Charlotte, Florida International University and the New World School of the Arts in Miami. John lives in Charlotte, NC and maintains an active private studio of accomplished young clarinetists.