Emile Pandolfi

Emile Pandolfi (born 1946) is an American pianist. He is noted for his renditions of show tunes. As well as his renditions of classical music.

Background

Pandolfi was born in New York and grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, where he still resides. He began studying piano at the age of five, and made his symphonic debut with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra at age 14, performing the Mozart piano concerto no. 11, in F major, K 413.

He attended Greenville High School, then Furman University, where he did his preparatory studies in music. He transferred to Baylor University, where he studied for two years. Following his piano teacher, Thomas Redcay, he transferred to Texas Tech, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree.

After college, Pandolfi moved to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands for two years as a chorus teacher in a public school. In the evenings, he played at the Caribbean Beach Hotel, as part of a Calypso band called "The Castaways." From there he moved to Sussex, England for another two years, playing pubs and restaurants.

Career

Upon returning to the United States, Pandolfi spent two years in Denver as part of a house band, Buddy Brown and the Bittersuite, and then moved to Los Angeles where he played for dance classes, acting seminars, actor/singer auditions, and in various piano lounges. It was here that he became one of the house pianists for the Comedy Store. He worked there for six years, performing with such entertainers as Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Robin Williams, among others. He was a featured performer at the 1984 Summer Olympics, playing "Rhapsody in Blue." During this time he also studied comedy writing (an ability he was to use many years later to write his own show) and learned to play for comedy improv.

After spending 15 years in LA, Pandolfi moved with his family back to Greenville, where he created his recording label, MagicMusic Productions. His first recording, "By Request" is a compilation of Broadway and movie themes arranged for piano solo. It remains his top-selling album to date, with sales in excess of six hundred thousand units. Pandolfi has strong followings on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and all the major streaming sites.

As a classically trained musician, Pandolfi had to teach himself to play music by ear.

Pandolfi has been actively involved with charity organizations, performing in benefit concerts for Hospice, several South Carolina women's shelters, The Ara Parseghian Foundation (Neimann-Pick Type C disease), United Way, The Red Cross, The American Heart Association, and others.

Musical influences

Pandolfi's greatest musical influences are the Romantic classical French composer Claude Debussy, the classical Polish composer Frederic Chopin, and the 20th century Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Personal life

Emile has two living sisters, Pamela Pandolfi and Barbara Coventry; and a brother, Guy Pandolfi.

Emile and his wife Judy have three daughters.

Discography

By Request -1990
An Affair to Remember -1991
Remember Me -1992
Once Upon a Romance -1992
Nights on Broadway -1993
Country Impressions -1994
Some Enchanted Evening -1994
It Might as Well Be Spring -1995
Chopin -1996
My Foolish Heart -1997
The Second Time Around -1997
Evening in Venice -1999
What a Wonderful World -1999
Rhapsody in Blue -2000
Malaguena - Ritual Fire Dance
Days of Wine & Roses -2004
Starry Starry Night -2002
Secret Love -1995
Unforgettable Love Songs -1998
Evening Romance -1999
A Child's Gift of Lullabyes
Believe
Quiet Passion
A Lovely Way to Spend An Evening
Malagueña/Ritual Fire Dance
How Sweet the Sound
Maleguena
So This is Love
I See the Light

Compilation albums

Please Welcome... Best of Volume 1 - 1993
Secret Love: The Best of Emile Pandolfi, Vol. 2 -1996

Christmas albums

White Christmas
Sleigh Ride
Do You Hear What I Hear?
In the Holiday Spirit
Winter Wonderland