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 six years, Vito DiSalvo has served as music director and pianist for The Sicilian Tenors touring with them throughout the United States.
In 2019, DiSalvo completed the motion picture 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 by visit “That’s Amore” on IMDB: “That’s Amore” is currently available for streaming on your favorite movie streaming sites.
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 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 became solely a music publishing company and MHM Productions LLC 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.”