Tony Romandini

Romandini, Tony

Tony (Giuseppe Alexander Antonio) Romandini,. Guitarist, composer, arranger, teacher, b Montreal 27 Jul 1928. He studied guitar 1937-40 with a teacher named Calabrese in New York and at 15 played with Maynard Ferguson in Montreal. He began his career as a studio musician at 20, working first for the CBC, and played ca 1950-8 in Montreal nightclubs with the pianists Roland Lavallée (b 24 Feb 1922, d 28 May 2004) and Maury Kaye, the accordionist Gordie Fleming, and others.

Thereafter based mainly in Montreal studios, including those of CFTM-TV, opened in 1961, Romandini also took assignments on guitar, banjo, mandolin, etc. He gave concerts of classical music in France and Germany during the 1960s and also has played with the MSO and Quebec Symphony Orchestra - eg, with the former, in Manuel de Falla's La Vida breve (1970) and in a Gershwin progam presented at the 1988 FIJM and on record. He was a sideman to Oscar Peterson in the pianist's appearance with the MSO at the FIJM in 1985.

Romandini composed the score for Jean-Claude Labrecque's documentary 60 Cycles and wrote for the CBC and the NFB. He has written several jingles and many instrumental pieces, and was the arranger and conductor for recordings of Monique Doss and Daniel Lachance. He taught 1974-7 at Concordia University and 1977-8 at the Cons de Hull, before joining the faculty of McGill University in 1979.