James Di Pasquale
Encyclopedia
James Di Pasquale is an American
musician and composer of contemporary (classical) music and music for television and films.
and the Manhattan School of Music
. His teachers included David Diamond
and Ludmila Uhlela.
Before turning full time to composition, he had a varied career as a woodwinds performer with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
, the Bolshoi Ballet
, and the Royal Ballet.
He performed as a jazz musician with Gerry Mulligan
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Henry Mancini
, and Barbra Streisand
as well as many others. He was one of the original members of the Paul Winter Consort
.
In 1984, he served as the Organizing Chairman and first President of the Society of Composers and Lyricists. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and on the Writer’s Advisory Committee at the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
(ASCAP).
, Switch
, Hawaii Five-O
, McClain's Law
, Cutter to Houston
and Trauma Center
.
He has received three Emmy Award
s, six Emmy nominations, and a CableACE Award
nomination for his work in television.
(1986), Rad
(1986), and Showdown.
His "Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Piano" has been recorded by saxophonists such as James Houlik
, Frederick Hemke
and Steven Mauk, saxophone instructor at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician and composer of contemporary (classical) music and music for television and films.
Biography
Born April 7, 1941 in Chicago to Hugo and Lucille (née Ciccone) Di Pasquale, James Di Pasquale is a graduate of St. Mel's High School in Chicago. He graduated from Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and the Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
. His teachers included David Diamond
David Diamond
David Diamond is the name of:* David Diamond , American composer* David Diamond * David Diamond , American screenwriter* David Diamond, frontman and songwriter with Canadian band The Kings...
and Ludmila Uhlela.
Before turning full time to composition, he had a varied career as a woodwinds performer with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
, the Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Ballet
The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies, however it only achieved worldwide acclaim by the early 20th century, when Moscow became the...
, and the Royal Ballet.
He performed as a jazz musician with Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
, and Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
as well as many others. He was one of the original members of the Paul Winter Consort
Paul Winter Consort
The Paul Winter Consort is an American musical group, led by soprano saxophonist Paul Winter. Founded in 1967, the group mixes elements of jazz, classical music, world music, and the sounds of animals and nature. They are often classified as new age music or "ecological jazz", and their unique...
.
In 1984, he served as the Organizing Chairman and first President of the Society of Composers and Lyricists. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and on the Writer’s Advisory Committee at the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them...
(ASCAP).
Music for television
He wrote the musical scores to made-for-TV movies such as: Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975), The Jericho Mile (1979), Two of a Kind (1982), The Shell Seekers (1989), The Killing Mind (1991), Runaway Father (1991), In the Best Interest of the Children (1992), Seduction: Three Tales from the "Inner Sanctum" (1992); and television series such as: Columbo, Lou GrantLou Grant (TV series)
Lou Grant is an American television drama series starring Ed Asner in the titular role as a newspaper editor. Unusual in American television, this drama series was a spinoff from a sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Aired from 1977 to 1982, Lou Grant won 13 Emmy Awards, including "Outstanding Drama...
, Switch
Switch (TV series)
Switch is an American action-adventure, tongue-in-cheek detective series starring Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner, who worked as private eyes, for a deceptive sting operation...
, Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
, McClain's Law
McClain's Law
McClain's Law is an American crime drama television series that aired on NBC during the 1981-1982 season. New episodes ended on March 20, and rebroadcasts continued until August 24, 1982.-Summary:...
, Cutter to Houston
Cutter to Houston
Cutter to Houston is an American medical drama that aired on CBS from October 1 to December 31, 1983. The series was created by Sandor Stern.-Synopsis:...
and Trauma Center
Trauma Center (TV series)
Trauma Center is an American medical drama that aired on ABC from September 22, 1983 to December 8, 1983.-Premise:The series followed the staff at the McKee Hospital Trauma Center who dealt with numerous traumas in each episode...
.
He has received three Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s, six Emmy nominations, and a CableACE Award
CableACE Award
The CableACE Award was an award that was given from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in American cable television programming...
nomination for his work in television.
Music for films
His motion picture scores include Armed and Dangerous (1986), One Crazy SummerOne Crazy Summer
-Production:Several locations on Cape Cod, Massachusetts were used for the film: Barnstable High School , Hyannis West Elementary School , the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard And Nantucket Steamship Authority ferry dock in Woods Hole, where the characters board the ferry, and the motorcycle gang...
(1986), Rad
Rad (film)
Rad is a film about BMX racing, first released in the USA in 1986. The film was written by Sam Bernard and Geoffrey Edwards and directed by Hal Needham. It stars Bill Allen and Lori Loughlin. Parts of this movie were filmed in Cochrane in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, Colonel Macleod Jr...
(1986), and Showdown.
Classical works
His compositions for the concert hall include:- Sonata for tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
and pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Quartet for trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, and celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is... - Symphony in one movement
- In Absentia: Elegy for Stan GetzStan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
- Monologia for solo horn (for Dale ClevengerDale ClevengerDale Clevenger has been Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1966. Before joining the CSO, he was a member of Leopold Stokowski's American Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony of the Air directed by Alfred Wallenstein. He was also principal horn of the Kansas City...
, principal hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
of the Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago Symphony OrchestraThe Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
) - Interplay and Showing Great Restraint (for Chicago Current, a jazz–fusion ensemble of Chicago Symphony players.)
Recordings
He has also worked as a record producer. His credits include:- With You, I'm Born Again (Billy PrestonBilly PrestonWilliam Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
and Syreeta), a top five single - Glider (AuricleAuricleAuricle is an Anglicization of Latin auricula, from auris "ear" and -cula, a diminutive suffix.Auricle and auricula may refer to:-Medicine:* Ear** Pinna, the external portion of the ear...
), a top ten jazz album
His "Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Piano" has been recorded by saxophonists such as James Houlik
James Houlik
James Houlik is an American tenor saxophonist and saxophone teacher.-Family life:Houlik is married for the third time, and has fathered four children.He has four grand children and four daughters.-Education:...
, Frederick Hemke
Frederick Hemke
Frederick L. Hemke is an American saxophonist and Professor of Music at Northwestern University School of Music.-Education:...
and Steven Mauk, saxophone instructor at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY.