Video: Jun 22, 2023 Celebrating National Accordion Awareness Month!

Cory Pesaturo recently brought the accordion to national attention with his performance on Fox News in celebration of June’s National Accordion Month. Cory Pesaturo @CPez was the featured guest all day on Fox News, from performing the National Anthem to start off the show, to giving bump music, a full interview, And even doing the Weather!

Cory Pesaturo (“C Pez”) is on the forefront of the accordion world, pushing the boundaries on multiple fronts of what is possible with the accordion. Cory won the trio of World Championships on Acoustic, Digital & Jazz Accordion, and the only accordion graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA.  In 2017, Pesaturo became a Guinness World Record Holder, as RedBull® flew him to Austria to break the Marathon Accordion Record, in which Cory played for over 32 hours. Cory’s main contribution is his visionary thinking of how the accordion should be used, played, taught, and presented in modern music.  He has given 2 TED Talk’s and 2 Google Talk’s about this, which are currently the only TED or Google talks in the world about the accordion. Pesaturo is also developing his own electric accordion, and already has made the first ever skinned accordion which includes a symmetric lighting system attached to the keys.  

Pesaturo’s extensive resumé includes appearances at the White House for President and Mrs. Clinton on 4 different occasions, starting at age 12, and 8 other appearances for the Clintons since 2000, along with 14 letters from the first family.  On one of those occasions, he became the youngest person to ever perform at a State Dinner, performing with the Marine Strolling Strings for the President of Hungary.  Some TV appearances include the Late Show with David Letterman, performing with Johnny Depp, and nationally televised programs in New Zealand, Canada, Italy, Tunisia, France, and Finland. . He has judged accordion competitions in the US, Canada, and Europe, in addition to other music competitions, and currently gives masterclasses at various universities throughout the US and Europe on Accordion and Improvisation.  

For his Classical side which is lesser known, a win in a concerto competition at 16 years old gave Pesaturo the rare opportunity to perform with the Brockton Symphony Orchestra as a featured soloist, where he became the youngest accordionist to ever solo with a symphony orchestra in the US back in 2003.  Concerning his Jazz side, Cory recorded two CD’s with saxophone legend George Garzone and his known band “The Fringe” at age 19, and has become friends with Jazz and Music Legends Quincy Jones and Wynton Marsalis.  His performances at all 3 of his World Championships were played on accordions that were not his, and were generally 90% improvised; both aspects are unheard of in the accordion world.  

Pesaturo is also heavily involved and respected with the weather and motor sports worlds as well.  He composed the Official list of records set by the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and also wrote the lists for the 2007 and 2008 Seasons as well.  Moreover, he has put out reports on Winter Seasons for the US which have been featured on Accuweather.com, HurricaneCirty.com, and others.  Cory is known for his FreeSledding work, including his own sledding mountain called “CN Mountain”.  He has written sports blogs for sites like Bleacher Report, and has collaborated with members of the Red Sox and the Drop Kick Murphy’s on the “Fenway 100” album released in 2012. His music has been played on Formula 1 broadcasts on NBC, FOX, and Velocity, and additionally has an ongoing musical relationship with 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston.

Cory performed with famous Brazilian accordionist and composer Hermeto Pascoal who is similar to Astor Piazzolla. Hermeto, who is in his 80’s, gave Cory a hand written song, original manuscript. When Hermeto was on tour with his band, Cory flew out to Chicago to meet him and hear his performance in a concert hall. 

In May, Cory played for three hours in a private Italian organization event for the President of Malta. The performance took place at Lady Gaga’s parents restaurant. Cory was also a Guest of Chassis Building Legend Giampaolo Dallara and Racing Legend Mario Andretti at the Indy 500. Cory spent time with Herbie Hancock who’s a new fan of Cory’s.  

In July, Cory will be a featured guest artist on July 20th at the 2023 ATG Festival July 19 – 23, 2023. In August, Cory will entertain at the Cotati Accordion Festival with Yasmine Azaoez.

More news of the amazing Cory Pesaturo in future publications.

For further information: cory.pesaturo@gmail.com