Victor Sawyer is a freelance Music Teaching Artist. Fusing both his artistic and academic identities into one creative vision. Based in Memphis, TN Sawyer has performed with a multitude of artists such as 8Ball and MJG, Valerie June, Steve Cropper, Memphis Symphony Orchestra Big Band, Marcella Simien, and many others. Music has awarded him the distinct honor of recording and performing at Royal Studios, Savannah Music Festival, Riverbeat Music Festival, MEMPHO Music Fest, SXSW, the North Sea Jazz Festival, and Jazz at Lincoln Center just to name a few.

His career in creative youth development began at the world famous Stax Music Academy as a Soul Music educator, teaching ensembles and music theory to middle and high school youth. As a teacher he has worked at a multitude of schools including but not limited to the Soulsville Charter School and Crosstown High School  His work continued at the Memphis Music Initiative where he designed and led dynamic, holistic music education with a team of music professionals from various disciplinary backgrounds.

Sawyer obtained a Bachelor of Music Performance Degree from the University of Memphis and a Masters of Music in Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. As an educator he has received additional training from the Orpheum Theater Education Department Teaching Artist Training Program and Lincoln Center Education. 

He serves on the Memphis Youth Symphony Board, the Germantown Performing Arts Center Jazz Advisory Council, the Beale Street Brass Note Committee and formerly served as the Co-Chair for the Teaching Artist Guild and on the Music Export Memphis Artist Advisory Council. Sawyer recently joined the faculty of Rhodes College as an Adjunct Professor, the Memphis Jazz Workshop as an instructor, and performed with the Memphis Music Hall of Fame Band for the Porretta Soul Festival.