In the latest episode of Music, Money & Life, I speak with NY based composer Pete Calandra about his career as a performer on Broadway and his vast experience licensing his music in TV and Films.
Pete Calandra is a prolific composer and keyboard player
who has been immersed in the New York City music scene for most of his life. He has scored over 100 films and written over 2500 compositions for television, films and his own albums. He's composed music for every major television network including the FIFA World Cup Theme for FOX Sports, the Special Olympics World Games and Invictus Games Theme for ESPN as well as writing music for the Kennedy Center Honors on CBS in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Calandra garnered acclaim for composing
the music to Jellysmoke, a film which won the Los Angeles Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, and Unknown Soldier, a film which won the Los Angeles and Philadelphia Film Festivals and also was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. His solo albums are wonderfully diverse, spanning world music, Christmas music, jazz, contemporary jazz, new age, pop, and neo classical.
As a keyboard player he performed in the Broadway productions of Miss Saigon (for 10 years), The Lion King, Les Miserables, The Phantom Of The Opera, and Little Shop Of Horrors. In addition to his Broadway resume -- which includes first chair keyboard player positions for many of those productions -- he has also performed with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, NY Pops Orchestra, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Don Cherry, Aretha Franklin, Allen Ginsberg, Annie Golden, Donna McKechnie, Lillianne
Montevecchi, and he spent 16 years as the keyboard player in the NYC-based Climax Band, the creative vehicle for artist and musician Larry Rivers.
Listen to my interview with Pete Calandra on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7aTgJvVHlhyGg5zF27gNsV?si=e74ae5f9248c4907
Learn more about Pete:
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Peter Calandra - Wikipedia
