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    MHM Productions LLC

    MHM Productions LLC is an independent record label representing genres including: Italian Dance Music, Classical, Inspirational, Christmas, Jazz, R & B, Solo Piano and more…
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    Mifflin Hills Music Publishing LLC

    Mifflin Hills Music Publishing LLC is a BMI affiliated publishing company. Mifflin Hills Music Publishing controls copyrights for genres including: Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Choral, Traditional Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Italian, R & B, Christmas and more…
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    Parkridge Music Publishers LLC

    Parkridge Music Publishers LLC is an ASCAP affiliated publishing company. Parkridge Music Publishers administers copyrights for several ASCAP music publishers with genres that include: R & B, Pop, Rap, Soul, Christmas, and more…
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    We Three History

    We Three was originally a three-piece combo which played their first gig in November, 1965 and evolved as a formidable dance band and Italian Festa band and remained viable for forty-nine years. There is quite a history surrounding the group which recorded ten albums and performed from Milwaukee to New York. We Three also touted a huge and loyal fan base which is in part the reason for this web site…

BIOGRAPHY

Vito DiSalvo

Composer, Arranger, Performer, Producer, Educator

From April to June 2020, Vito DiSalvo completed a longtime bucket list item of composing his “Symphony No. 1” Composing this symphony and creating the virtual orchestral recording was his ‘pandemic passion project’.

For the past seven years, Vito DiSalvo has served as music director and pianist for The Sicilian Tenors www.siciliantenors.com touring with them throughout the United States.

In 2019, DiSalvo completed the score for the newly released Little Italy Productions film, “That’s Amore”, starring Tammy Pescatelli, Dave Petti, Joe Puglisi, and the late Barbara Russell. You can view the official movie trailer at: youtube or visit the “That’s Amore” on IMDB:  “That’s Amore” is currently available on several streaming services.

Vito DiSalvo’s musical background and leadership have taken him to concert stages from the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio tri-state area, where he originated and lead the popular dance band, WE THREE; and now to film scoring credits in “That’s Amore”. DiSalvo also garnered screen credits in the Julia Roberts Sony Film, “Eat Pray Love”, having two of his We Three recordings in the film: The classic ‘wedding tarantella’ “Tarantella Napoletana” and an original that he penned in 1987, “Tarantella Americana.” He also earned performing credits (accordion) on the film, “A Wedding for Bella” aka “The Bread My Sweet”.

In the mid 2000’s, Vito played piano for a short stint for the singing group “The Lettermen.” Vito also produced a PBS special with his group We Three and American tenor, Matt Morgan. He traveled to South Africa, Europe, Australia, Canada and China where he conducted and performed on both piano and accordion as Music Director for international singers Giorgia Fumanti and Patrizio Buanne. Vito was also privileged to play accordion for world-renowned tenor, the late Luciano Pavarotti, for his Pittsburgh concerts, as well as to have performed on the Grammy Award winning Jazz album for the late Nancy Wilson, “Turned To Blue.”

In February 1977, DiSalvo started Mifflin Hills Music Publishing Co as a publishing company and served for the next thirty years as an umbrella company for all he did in the music business. In 2007, Mifflin Hills Music Publishing LLC (www.mifflinhillsmusic.com) became solely a music publishing company and MHM Productions LLC (www.mhmproductions.biz) was formed as a record label and artist management company. With Mifflin Hills Music Publishing LLC being a BMI affiliate, DiSalvo, in 2019 started Parkridge Music Publishers LLC to accommodate ASCAP writers. Mr. DiSalvo and his companies have published choral music and numerous symphonic band compositions and plan to publish his “Symphony No. 1”.

He has also produced nearly thirty albums for his MHM label. His original music has been performed on the HBO series “The Sopranos,” on national advertisements and for the past fifteen years on the promotional videos and national television advertisements for Perillo Tours. His music has also appeared in an independent comedy film, as well as several documentary films.

Vito DiSalvo also collaborated with Pittsburgh radio legend, Jack Bogut, on five recording projects featuring “Story Teller Jack’s” original stories and DiSalvo’s original music; “The Joys of Growing Up Italian”, “Big Sky Café”, “Mental Movies”, “Word Painter”, and “Past Present Accounted For”.

Earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Duquesne University in May 1973, DiSalvo was honored by Duquesne in 1977 with the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the fields of music and music education.

Vito furthered his musical education earning a Master of Music Degree in Theory/Composition from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in 1975 where he studied with such distinguished composers as the late Clifton Williams, the late John Kinyon, and the late Alfred Reed.

In 2008, the National Italian Sports Hall of Fame honored Vito DiSalvo as their “Education Professional of the Year.”
Vito, along with his wife Lana of fifty years, are based in Naples, Florida.

PRESS
DiSalvo’s music heard in Sony Pictures EAT, PRAY LOVE
2010 World Expo with Italian born soprano, Giorgia Fumanti
Giorgia Fumanti concert at the Shanghai Concert Hall

COMPOSITIONS

SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA

Symphony No 1

Movement I
Adagio con forza – Moderato – Subito vivace

Movement II
Andante – Allegretto (Fuga) – Andante

Movement III
(Valzer)
Allegro – Maestoso – Allegro

Movement IV
Agitato – Allegro vivace – Lento –
Allegro moderato – Grandioso – Allegro vivace furioso

I have spent my life playing, teaching, arranging, composing and producing music starting with learning the accordion at age four. Euphonium became my major instrument in college having started on baritone horn in the fifth grade. I have been on the business side of music as well; owning, with my wife Lana, two publishing companies and a record label/artist management company. Other than the summer after graduating from high school when I worked as a laborer in the open hearth of a steel mill, I have made my entire living doing what I love to do – music! Typically, as one moves on in life, one has a bucket list. I had only one item on my bucket list and it was to compose my first symphony.

I had composed several symphonic band pieces, arranged music for marching bands, jazz bands, orchestras, and choirs of all configurations and all levels; I’ve composed music for film and have orchestrated for several artists their complete repertoires for full orchestra; but other than one piece that I penned in 1981 for my high school orchestra, until this symphony, I had not composed an original piece for orchestra. Composing this symphony then, I view, as a culmination of a lifetime of many, and quite varied, musical experiences.

In 2015 I set out to satisfy my bucket list item. However, as so often is the case, life got in the way. I have sketched many themes since then but only one would become relevant to this piece of music.

In March 2020, my life, like everyone else’s, changed dramatically with the appearance of the Corona Virus. I realized I had not had a schedule like this since I was a child. No performances, no tours, no traveling, no teaching, no social life. So, around April 1st, with the good graces and support of my wife, I headed to my studio to compose my symphony. Within days, I felt like I was on a freight train with no brakes. I found it difficult to leave the space and did so only to eat (I would never miss a meal since food is my second passion and my wife Lana is a great ‘Tuscan’ cook!) and to sleep.

I spent twelve to fifteen hours each day composing, orchestrating and recording my piece with the help of two great libraries of electronic orchestral sampled sounds. By the end of the first week of June, I had completed the composition and recording. I then set out to edit the printed score, which took the next several months. With the help of my editor, Paul Silver, a highly experienced professional orchestral musician, we took the next three years to edit and proof the score and parts.

SYMPHONIC BAND
Symphonic Band Compositions:
Concerto For Band – Composed in 1971-72 – Premier Performance by the Duquesne University Symphonic Band in 1972 at the Mid-East Music Conference in Pittsburgh, PA; Dr. George A. Cavanagh, Conductor
Rhapsody For Soprano Saxophone and Band – Composed in 1972-73 on Commission from the late Nestor Koval, Saxophonist in Residence at Duquesne University. Premier Performance by the Duquesne University Symphonic Band, Dr. John Wilson, Conductor; Nestor Koval, Soprano Saxophone Soloist
Rite Of An Occasion – Composed as Master of Music Thesis [University of Miami] under the tutelage of Clifton Williams and Alfred Reed. Premier Performance by the West Mifflin South High School Concert Band, Henry Sokolowski, Conductor

Metamorphosis Of A Stoic – Composed in 1980-81 – Premiered in 1981by the Hartwick College [Oneonta, NY] Symphonic Band, Dr. George A. Cavanagh, Conductor.
Passages – Composed in 1996 on Commission by the Penn Hills High School Band, Ben Holste, Director: in Memory of Janelle Burgess (1978-1996)
Fanfare and Fantasia – Composed in 1984 on Commission from the Fort Wayne Indiana Community Band, Dr. George A. Cavanagh, Conductor
Full Circle – [Trombone Duet] Composed in 1999 on Commission by the Penn Hills High School Band, Ben Holste, Director; on the occasion of Mr. Holste’s retirement from Music Education.
Air National Guard [Concert March] – Composed in 2003 – Premier Performance on December 7, 2003 by the West Mifflin Area High School Wind Ensemble, Devon Smeal, Conductor.

SMALL ENSEMBLE
Divertimento for Saxophone Quartet – Composed in 2022 on commission from The Three Rivers Saxophone Quartet in celebration of the ensemble’s Fiftieth Anniversary. The piece was premiered on June 4, 2023 in Pittsburgh, PA.

JAZZ
Jazz Compositions:
Above A Small Cafe – Composed in 2001 for the We Three CON AMORE album
Legend of Los Ojos Tristes – Composed in 1981

Laticer IV [for Alto Saxophone] – Composed in 1973
Wilkinson First Floor North – Composed in 1972

ITALIAN
Italian Compositions:
Bella Strada
Bravo Italia!
Buona Festa
Carnivale
Con Amore
Destino: Rio
The Florence Affair
The Florence Affair – [Vocal Duet Version] – Lyrics by Rob Vitalbo
Girasole
La Dolce Vita – Lyrics by Vito C. DiSalvo
Lost In Love
Mediterranea
Mediterranean Nights
Night In Rio
Piccolo Passo
Porta Vecchia
Solo Per Te
Tango Appassionata
Tango Del Vino
Tango di Napoli
Tango In The Park
Tango Romantico
Tarantella Americana
Tarantella Campobasso
Tu Sei La Mia Vita – Lyrics by Lana DiSalvo
Tu Sei La Mia Vita [Italian Version] Italian Translation by John Bigante
Una Festa
Valzer del Cuore
Waltz For Gina
Waltz On The Water
Wedding Waltz

POP
Pop Compositions:
Even Though
Heaven
It Was There
Lovin’ You
Once Upon A Friendship
We Can Dance

DISCOGRAPHY

with We Three 
Bravo Italia
Eh Cumpari
Salute!
Music of Vito DiSalvo
Buona Festa
Con Amore
We Can Dance
We Three- The Next Generation

 

We Three with John Bigante 
Champagne
Successi Napoletani

 

We Three with Matt Morgan
Matt Morgan with Vito DiSalvo and We Three

 

Solo Piano 
Inner Space

 

Compilation 
Vito DiSalvo: A Retrospective

 

with Jack Bogut:
Joys of Growing Up Italian
Big Sky Cafe
Mental Movies
Word Painter
Past Present Accounted For

 

Celestial Lite Orchestra
An Hour A Day
An Hour A Day Vol. II
Winter Escape

CONTACT INFORMATION

Lana DiSalvo

2074 Grove Drive
Naples, FL 34120
Telephone: +1 412 443 7571
E-mail: [email protected]

Gallery