Jay David Saks

Jay David Saks (24 January 1945 – 16 November 2024)[1] was an American music producer.

Biography

Born in New York City, Saks grew up in The Bronx. His older sister was the cellist Toby Saks.[2] He studied at the Juilliard School, and later continued his studies at the Mannes College of Music, from which he graduated in 1970. During the 1960's, Saks played bass guitar with The Balloon Farm.[1]

Saks joined Columbia Masterworks in 1972. In 1974, he moved to RCA Records, and served as an executive producer at RCA Victor (later Sony BMG) from 1974 to 2005. Saks was the recipient of 13 Grammy Awards from a total of 53 nominations, and 2 Emmy Awards for his work on Broadway recordings, classical music, and the Metropolitan Opera.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

Saks joined the Metropolitan Opera staff in 1979.[2] For the company, he worked as a sound designer and engineer on radio broadcasts, television presentations, and the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD cinema satellite transmission series. [9] Of his 13 Grammy Awards, four of them were for his Metropolitan Opera work. Saks retired from the Metropolitan Opera in 2019.

Saks married Linda Nathan[3] in 1972. The couple had two sons, Jeremy and Greg. Their marriage lasted until Saks' death on 16 November 2024, of Parkinsonism-related causes. His widow, their two sons, and their three grandchildren survive him.[10][11]

References

1. Margaret Hall (December 5, 2024). "Jay David Saks: 1945-2024". Playbill. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
2. "A Celebration of the Life of Toby Saks" (PDF). Seattle Chamber Music Society. October 14, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
3. Cohen, Steve (December 17, 2015). "Jay David Saks goes on record". The Cultural Critic. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
4. Rudolph, Eric (2000). "Jay David Saks - Bringing Broadway to CD". In Schultz, Barbara (ed.). Music Producers: Conversations with Today's Top Hit Makers. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 183–190. ISBN 978-0-87288-730-5.
5. "Jay David Saks | Artist". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
6. Maslon, Laurence (August 3, 2018). Broadway to Main Street: How Show Tunes Enchanted America. Oxford University Press. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-19-062041-7.
7. LeBorgne, Wendy D.; Rosenberg, Marci Daniels (August 31, 2019). The Vocal Athlete, Second Edition. Plural Publishing. p. 357. ISBN 978-1-63550-165-0.
8. Eidsheim, Nina; Meizel, Katherine (May 22, 2019). The Oxford Handbook of Voice Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-19-998230-1.
9. Anthony Tommasini (June 28, 2013). "Wearing a Wire at the Opera, Secretly, of Course". The New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
10. "Jay David Saks: 1945-2024". The Ridgefield Press. December 2, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
11. The New York Times (November 20, 2024). "JAY SAKS Obituary (2024) - New York, NY". Legacy.com. Retrieved November 20, 2024.

External links

• LinkedIn profile of Jay David Saks
• IMDB profile of Jay David Saks
• Discogs page on Jay David Saks
• AllMusic.com page on Jay David Saks