Video 1: Video tribute to accordion virtuoso Daniel Desiderio presented at the Mid Atlantic Music Teachers Guild / American Accordion Musicological Society Festival at the Marriott Hotel in Whippany, New Jersey on March 31, 2012.

Video 2: Accordion virtuoso Daniel Desiderio performs on the Eugene Ettore Memorial Concert, Livingston, NJ. on October 5, 1986. Renowned accordionist Daniel Desiderio performs “Scherzo Tarantelle” by Henri Wieniawski and “Five O’Clock Rush” by Eugene Ettore.

Daniel J. Desiderio is one of the United States’ foremost accordion artists. You will learn about his successful life and career by viewing the video above. Well-known in the accordion field for his compositions and arrangements, Mr. Desiderio has recorded on the Ampco and Cormack labels. He has performed in concert throughout Europe, Japan, and America, appearing at Longdon’ Royal Festival Hall, Copenhagen’s Radio House, Munich’s Congress Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Town Hall, Philadelphia’s Academy of Music and Kimmel Center, and the White House.

Mr. Desiderio began his formal musical training at the age of nine and studied under the late Pietro Deiro, Sr. He also studied arranging and composition with Dr. William Hoppich. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, he began his concert career at the age of seventeen. During his four year military career service, he was featured soloist with the Air Force Band and Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.

He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Accordionists Association and one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Accordion Teachers’ Association. He also served as the conductor of the Accordion Pops Orchestra from 1985 to 2011.

He has arranged the music for the Ensemble of Hope, an accordion ensemble in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area. (see article about Ensemble of Hope in this publication).

Mr. Desiderio operates a private music studio in the Philadelphia area for accordion and piano students.