Pasquale J. Spino - Short Bio

Pasquale  J. Spino (AKA Patrick Spino, Pat Spino, P.J. Spino) was born in 1942 in  Newark, New Jersey.  He began studying piano at age 7 and continued  keyboard studies throughout undergraduate college.  At age 8 he composed  his first composition; “WIND SONG” for solo piano which has,  unfortunately, been lost.  In 1956 

Pasquale was accepted into Arts High  School located in Newark, NJ  which, at the time, was  one of the few arts based high schools in the country.  During this time  he studied piano and arranging privately with Anthony Sages, Eddie  Barry and George Stalter, and trombone with Michael Criscola. 

Pasquale  received a BA teaching degree in Music Education from Glassboro State  College (now Rowan University) in 1964.  While attending Glassboro he  studied Piano with Gloria Planchin, Larry Wicks and Bennie Kemp, Theory  and Composition with Ed Avril and Hoyle Carpenter and worked privately  developing his arranging and composition skills.  During the 4 years at  Glassboro he played trombone and bass trombone in the concert band of  which he was elected president as a senior, and played piano in the jazz  band, also serving as president for 2 years.  As a Sophomore, Pat was  instrumental in the all-student production of the Sophomore Class Show  featuring an on stage student big band which was rehearsed and conducted  by Pat and featured arrangements and originals by himself and fellow  students.   Pat was also the co-founder of the all-student produced  Festival of Contemporary Music in which original compositions for band,  orchestra and chorus of three 3rd year students were premiered.   The  event was of such success that the concert became an annual music  department sponsored event.  As a result of the concert’s recording,  Spino’s “American Snapshots” was selected by Vincent Persichetti for  publication by Elkan-Vogel of Philadelphia.  Pat was 19 years old at the  time.

Upon  graduation from Glassboro in 1964 Pat began his long, sometimes  interrupted, tenure as a Philadelphia, PA and New Jersey public school  music teacher at the Jr. and Sr. High School levels.  Coincidental with  the start of his teaching career Pat studied composition with Stanley  Austin and privately with Vaclav Nelhybel in New York City.  The  experience with the dynamic Nelhybel solidified Pasquale’s commitment to  further serious study of composition for the concert stage. 

In  1965 Pat, being awarded a teaching assistantship, entered the  University  of Minnesota as a Composition Major where he studied Theory,  Orchestration and Composition with renowned composers Dr. Paul Fetler  and Dr. Dominick Argento.  This period of time saw Pat producing works  for the concert stage such as SONATA FOR CELLO AND PIANO, FOUR SHORT  PIECES FOR PIANO, SUITE FOR PIANO, SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS and  various SATB Pieces.

Subsequent  to the completion of an MA degree in Composition Pat resumed public  school teaching in Philadelphia for a period of  five years after which  he relocated back to his native N. J. where he taught public school  music until his retirement in 2000.  During this period Pat acquired  production experience as the music director and conductor of a  neighborhood theater in Philadelphia. 

Throughout  the years in N. J. Pat worked as a professional musician, composer and  arranger for a wide variety of venues which included arranging for  various bands, club acts, instrumental combinations and a commercial  string quartet, as well as composing for concert band, small ensembles,  orchestra, disco orchestra and even string band.  

Pat was  instrumental in the writing of a number of commercially recorded  arrangements under a pseudonym, his original disco composition JOURNEY  TO PHOEBUS was released on the SalSoul Orchestra’s "Magic Journey" Album  (SalSoul Records - 1977).  Pat continued to develop his writing skills  by accepting any work that happened along – no matter the vehicle -   including several arrangements written for string band which resulted in  prize winning music performances during several of Philadelphia's New  Year’s Day Mummers parades.   Pat also arranged music and performed on  keyboards for club acts in various Atlantic City Casinos and worked as a  substitute pianist in several of the casino show room bands.

For  several years, during the 1980’s, Pat, along with fellow musician Bill  Jones, formed the Sight and Sound Production Company.  Sight and Sound  produced many radio and TV spots and numerous original industrial video  soundtracks for such notable companies as IBM, Sony, Hercules Chemical  Corporation, and Bell of PA.  The majority of these projects were  recorded, produced and mixed by Pat in recording studios located in New  Jersey and Philadelphia.  The Hercules Corporate logo, written by  Pat, was nominated for the Clio advertising award.  Pat also wrote,  produced and conducted an extended arrangement of AMERICA for orchestra,  chorus, children’s chorus, jazz combo, and male vocalist for a Bell of  PA project “A Day in The Life of Pennsylvania” which aired on public  television stations throughout Pennsylvania as part of the U. S.  Bicentennial celebration.

Pat’s  love of writing for the concert stage was always of primary  importance.  His Symphony No. 1 won the 6th annual Indiana State  University Contemporary Music Festival along with 4 other composers  selected from an international list of contestants.  The premier  performance was presented on the University campus by the Indianapolis  (now Indiana) Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Oleg  Kovalenko.  A number of performances and commissions followed including a  performance of A PROPHECY by Georgia State  University’s 10th Annual  Brass Symposium.  LAMENT was commissioned and premiered by the Illinois  Wesleyan University Choir and also presented in concert by Rowan  University Concert Choir with Clancy Miller Conducting.

Pat  and his lovely wife Carol  reside in Port Charlotte, Florida where  he continues to write, and takes time to pursue his other passion; sailing.