Peter Calandra

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Peter Calandra
Peter Calandra.jpg
Background information
Born Brooklyn, New York
Origin Northport, New York
Occupation(s)composer, musician, conductor
Instrument(s)piano, guitar
Website petecalandramusic.com

Peter Calandra is a New York City-based composer and pianist. He is known for his work composing music for television and film as well as conducting and playing piano in Broadway and Off Broadway productions. The former includes the FIFA Men's and FIFA Women's World Cup themes for FOX Sports and, starting 2015, the themes for the Special Olympics World Games and Invictus Games for ESPN, in film, 13th Child (2002), Unknown Soldier (2004), Jellysmoke (2005), and BearCity 2: The Proposal (2012). He has also composed the music for the Kennedy Center Honors.

Contents

On Broadway, Calandra has played keyboard for Miss Saigon , Les Misérables , and The Phantom of the Opera . He performed in and served as conductor and musical director for the original New York City production of Little Shop of Horrors . In his career as a pianist, he has performed with musical artists and orchestras including Aretha Franklin, The New York Pops, jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, Don Cherry, and actress/singer Annie Golden.

His own albums are Sunrise Over New York (2004), Late Night Christmas (2009), Satya (2011, with Bill Buchen & Stomu Takeishi), Ashokan Memories (2013), Inner Circle (2014), First Light (2015), The Road Home (2017), Piano Improvisations, Vol. 1,Carpe Noctem, Little Paws On The Walls (all 2018), Piano Improvisations, Vol. 2 (2019) and Ambient Tuesdays (2021). Calandra has a master's degree in Music Composition from Queens College, City University of New York [1] and teaches Audio/MIDI Sequencing, Film Scoring and Music Composition at its Aaron Copland School of Music at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. [2]

Career

Theatre

Calandra has played keyboard as part of a pit orchestra for a number of musicals. Some he is known for include Miss Saigon , Les Misérables , and The Phantom of the Opera . [3] He performed in and also served as conductor and musical director for the original New York City production of Little Shop of Horrors at the Orpheum Theater. [1]

Films

Calandra has scored over 90 feature and short films and documentaries. [4] For film scores and compositions, he uses a variety of instrumentation and styles. He has stated that most of the film music he writes "has a combination of orchestral, choral, piano, ethnic and electronic elements..." but he often alters his approach for certain films. As an example, for his score for Pat XO, an ESPN documentary on college basketball coach Pat Summitt, Calandra's score is based on acoustic guitars and live percussion. Calandra stated that for this score, he created a "roots oriented," "small ensemble" sound to match the down-to-earth qualities of the film. [5]

One of Calandra's most well-known works is his score for the 2004 film Unknown Soldier by director Ferenc Tóth. For this score, which primarily features instrumental jazz, Calandra performed with saxophonist Dale Kleps, trumpeter Bud Burridge, bassist Kermit Driscoll, and drummer Howard Joines. [6] Dr. Ana Isabel Ordonez of JazzReview praised the recording, stating that "Unknown Soldier's jazz score highlights bravery and the human social fracture in our society." [7]

In 2011, Calandra composed music for the film Rise. Commissioned by U.S. Figure Skating, the film, a Fathom event that played in select theaters, starred Patricia Clarkson and Dakota Fanning, with appearances by American skaters like Dorothy Fleming, Michelle Kwan, and Scott Hamilton. [8] It commemorated members of the U.S. figure skating team killed in the 1961 crash of Sabena Flight 548. Calandra composed an orchestral score as well as an original song which plays during the opening title sequence of the film. [9]

Television

Calandra's television composition credits include projects for the National Geographic Society, Sesame Workshop, ABC-Touchstone, NBC, Fox Sports, A&E, and Discovery Communications. A few of his songs from his 2003 soundtrack album Sunrise Over New York have also been used on The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s segments in early 2004. He also written a large amount of themes for television broadcast, theme packages for Fox Sports, ESPN, Bravo, NBC-Comcast SportsNet, MSG, SportsNet New York, and the Big Ten Network. [1] Most recently this has included the FIFA Men's and Women's World Cup themes for FOX Sports and the themes for the Special Olympics World Games [10] and Invictus Games for ESPN starting in 2015.

He composed the music for the Kennedy Center Honors in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019 [10] which airs every year on CBS. [11] [12] In 2020, Calandra composed three nights of the music for the 2020 Democratic National Convention. [10] In 2024 he composed music for 3 biopics about Vice President Kamala Harris that were shown during the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Work for individual artists and musical groups

In his career as a pianist, Calandra has performed with musical artists and orchestras including The New York Pops, jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, trumpeter Don Cherry, soul singer Aretha Franklin, Allen Ginsberg, and actress/singer Annie Golden. He also spent many years as a keyboard player in New York City-based artist and musician Larry Rivers' Climax Band. [1]

Selected discography

YearAlbum details
2004Sunrise Over New York
  • Label: PCM
2006Unknown Soldier Soundtrack
2008Jellysmoke Soundtrack
2009Late Night Christmas
  • Label: PCM
2011Satya
2013Ashokan Memories
  • Label: PCM
2014Inner Circle
  • Label: PCM
2015First Light
  • Label: PCM
2017The Road Home
  • Label: PCM
2018Piano Improvisations, Vol.1
  • Label: PCM
2018Carpe Noctem
  • Label: PCM
2018Little Paws On The Walls
  • Label: PCM
2019Piano Improvisations, Vol.2
  • Label: PCM
2021Ambient Tuesdays
  • Label: PCM
2023The Blue Light
  • Label: PCM
2024Spirit
  • Label: PCM
2025Night Mist
  • Label: PCM

Selected filmography

YearFilm details
2002 13th Child
  • Composed score
2004Unknown Soldier
  • Composed score
2005Jellysmoke
  • Composed score
2010 Unmatched
  • Composed score [13]
2011Rise
  • Composed score and original song
2012 BearCity 2: The Proposal
  • Composed score
2013Pat XO
  • Composed score
201441 on 41
  • Composed score
2015Coach Bernie
  • Composed score
2017Maria Sharapova: The Point
  • Composed score
2021SEC Storied Once Upon A Comeback
  • Composed score
2021The 96 Effect
  • Composed score
2022Catch 98
  • Composed score

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Biography for Peter Calandra". IMDb. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Peter Calandra". Queens College, CUNY.
  3. ↑ "Peter Calandra: Male". Internet Broadway Database.
  4. ↑ "Peter Calandra". LinkedIn. LinkedIn Corporation. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ Young, Robyn (April 15, 2013). "Peter Calandra Scores ESPN's 'Pat XO' – Showing at 2013 Tribeca Film Fest". Film Music Magazine. Global Media Online, Inc. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  6. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "Unknown Soldier - Unknown Soldier". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ Ordonez, Dr. Ana Isabel (September 13, 2005). "Unknown Soldier by Peter Calandra". jazzReview. jazzreview.com. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Rise (2011): Full Cast & Crew". IMDb.com, Inc.
  9. ↑ "Composer Peter Calandra and the feature film "Rise"". Film Music Magazine. Global Media Online, Inc. February 8, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 "Peter Calandra: Filmography". IMDb. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  11. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (June 23, 2016). "Kennedy Center Honors: Al Pacino, Eagles, James Taylor & More". Deadline.
  12. ↑ smith, Jada F. (June 23, 2016). "The Gospel Singer Mavis Staples to Get Kennedy Center Honor". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ "30 For 30: Unmatched". espn.com. ESPN Films.
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