James Sawyers Jr.
Jim has been the organist at Grace Lutheran Church at Carrollwood since June of 1993. He
began his musical studiesat the piano in Lakeland, Florida and continued his music studies as electives throughout his years at the University of Florida while majoring in Management in the College of Business Administration. He studied organ under Professor of Music Emeritus Willis Bodine, and was also UF’s first Student Carillonneur. Jim also performed in the Gator Marching Band (tuba). From 1981 to 1985, he was the organist at Ascension Lutheran Church in Columbia, S.C. Jim has performed organ recitals in Tampa; Lakeland; Lake Wales; Gainesville; and Columbia, S.C.
As a member of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay since 2000, Jim has performed a variety of major choral works and has sung under the baton of Sir Colin Davis (London Symphony), Giancarlo Guerrero (Cleveland Orchestra), Jahja Ling, Stefan Sanderling, and Michael Francis (Florida Orchestra). Jim also enjoyed performing with the Master Chorale Ensemble Singers from 2014 to 2017.
Jim is a Business Intelligence Data Warehouse Architect, Software Consultant, and Trainer with Enavate. He lives in Carrollwood with Shelly, his wife of nearly 30+ years. They have two children: Ruthie and Joey.
