Biography

John Mastroianni has performed as a professional musician since he was fifteen years old.  His talents as a saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer, and arranger have led him to a diversity of musical experiences.

John earned a B.S. in Music Education and a B.M. in Jazz Studies from the University of Bridgeport, and an M.A. in Jazz Performance/Composition from New York University.  He has studied saxophone with Phil Woods, Dick Oatts, Joe Lovano, and Gary Klein, and composition with Jim McNeely, Bill Finegan, Tom Boras, and Neil Slater.

John has performed, toured and recorded with artists such as Mel Lewis, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Smokey Robinson, Louie Bellson, Charli Persip and Supersound, Harvie Swartz, Jim McNeely, Jay Leonhart, Gerry Mulligan, Lew Anderson, Clint Holmes, Roger Kellaway, the Glenn Miller Band, Sonny Costanzo, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Barry Manilow, Nick Brignola, the New England Jazz Ensemble, and many others!  He also has performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Norwalk and Hartford Symphonies, and at the Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Shubert, Palace, Goodspeed Opera House and Oakdale theaters.  John also played in the orchestra for the Broadway(NYC) production of “Three Penny Opera.”

John’s three recordings as a leader, entitled Cookin’ On All Burners (Stash), The Time Being (Jazz Alliance), and Live at the Silvermine (Jazzheads), have all earned him critical acclaim.  He is also a featured soloist and composer/arranger on the New England Jazz Ensemble recordings, Version 3.0 (Brownstone), Storm Before the Calm (Sea Breeze), and A Cookin’ Christmas (Sea Breeze).  John is currently a performer and recording artist for the Jazzheads label (NYC).

In addition to being a free-lance musician, John performs with his own quartet, and leads his own sixteen piece jazz orchestra that he composes and arranges all of the music for.  John’s music has been performed and recorded by his quartet and jazz orchestra, the Sonny Costanzo Big Band, the John Allmark Jazz Orchestra, the Army Blues Band (Washington D.C.), the New England Jazz Ensemble, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and many high school, college, and professional jazz ensembles throughout the United States.  His big band charts are currently published by Walrus Music Publishing.    John has also written a piece for chamber orchestra and soprano saxophone which is currently published by Dorn Publications.

John has taught at New York University, Albertus Magnus College, the University of Bridgeport, the New York State Summer School for the Arts, Bridgeport Central High School, and New Canaan High School.  Currently, he is the Director of Bands at Hall High School in West Hartford, Jazz Lab Band Director at the University of Connecticut, and the founder and music director of the Young Artists Summer Jazz Workshop.  In December 2002, John was named by SBO Magazine as one of 50 directors in the United States that “make a difference,” and in March 2004, John was chosen by the Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA) as the Secondary School Teacher of the Year. 

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