Peter Calandra

Biographical Information:

Pete Calandra is an award winning, prolific composer and keyboard player whose solo albums are wonderfully diverse, spanning world music, jazz, contemporary jazz, new age, pop, and neo-classical. Three of his recent albums of original music — First Light (2015), The Road Home (2017) and Carpe Noctem (2018) were nominated for ZMR Awards. His Jazz-Funk compositions Neptune Beach (2023), Mixed Emotions (2024) and Shades Of Life (2025) were nominated for a Hollywood Independent Music Awards. As a Film & TV composer, Calandra scored over 100 films and wrote over 2000 compositions for television. 

He has 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 from 2015 thru 2020. Calandra has been immersed in the New York City music scene for most of his life. As a keyboard player he performed in the Broadway productions of Miss Saigon, The Lion King, Les Miserables, The Phantom Of The Opera, and Little Shop Of Horrors. 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. Currently, Calandra is on the faculty of the Aaron Copland School Of Music at Queens College, CUNY teaching Audio/MIDI, Film Scoring and Music Composition and also is a co-creator of the Music And Production Program at the college. Pete is also a Yamaha Endorsed Artist. Visit www.petecalandramusic.com for more information and music.

Courses:
Audio/MIDI Sequencing I & II
Advanced MIDI Sequencing
Film Scoring

Email: petecalandra@gmail.com

Website: www.petecalandramusic.com