David Ippolito
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David Ippolito is an American singer-songwriter and playwright. He has self-released eight albums and is best known for his weekly summer performances in Central Park.


Career

In 1992, Ippolito first performed an impromptu concert on a hill in Central Park in front of a small audience. Among those present was editor Jack Rosenthal from '' The New York Times'', who the next day published an editorial about the performance. The next week, Ippolito played again, and began to gather a following. Since then, he has performed on a hill near a rowboat lake almost every summer weekend to crowds of passers-by and regulars, including international tourists, and has become a cult figure in New York. His most recent CD, "Wouldn't Want It Any Other Way", was released in 2009. The album features "Keep Hope Alive", which was co-written with Sid Bernstein, the famous music promoter who brought the Beatles to the US. Ippolito has performed at venues throughout New York City, including an annual December performance at Merkin Concert Hall, as well as shows at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia,
Symphony Space Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (also called Pe ...
, The Red Lion on
Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was ...
, and ''Cast Party'' at the Birdland Music Club.


Central Park

Ippolito's Central Park concerts are relatively well-known. However, in 2000, the Parks Department ordered him (and all other musicians in the park) to unplug his small speaker, which led to outcry from his fans and letters to ''The New York Times'' by supportive audience members. The current arrangement is that he has to select a month in advance which dates he wants to play, as well as pay for each permit, rain or shine. On the Sunday after the September 11 attacks, approximately 1,000 of his fans filled his guitar case in Central Park with more than $7,000, which Ippolito, the son of a retired New York City firefighter, delivered to Ladder Company 25 and the 9/11 Fund.


I Love the Company

During 2006, Ippolito hosted a daily podcast called "I Love the Company," which was broadcast globally via Podshow.com. The 365+ podcasts featured new works by Ippolito and music by singers and songwriters around the world, which was joined by an "I Love the Video" videocast.I Love the Video
Mevio.com


Playwriting and other work

As an actor, Ippolito has had roles in national TV commercials and musical theater productions. Ippolito's song, "City Song," was used to close NBC's television coverage of the 2001 New York City Marathon. He has appeared on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's " Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", winning $64,000. A playwright and storyteller, his work has been performed at The Soho Playhouse and The
Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded ...
. Ippolito is currently workshopping his new musical project for the stage, "Possibility Junkie."


Discography

* The People on the Hill (1997) * That Guitar Man from Central Park...In Person (1998) * Just a Thought for Christmas (1999) * It's Just Us (2000) * Crazy on the Same Day (2002) * Talk Louder (the Cell Phone Song) (2003) * Common Ground (2004) * I Love the Company (2007) * Crazy on the Same Day (re-mastered in 2008) * Wouldn't Want It Any Other Way (2009)


References


External links


That Guitar Man Website

Description of his charity work



I Love The Company podcast

YouTube "Resolution (The Torture Song)"

New York Times: A Protest Song Gets a Television Showcase

Television Documentary Film: ''Following Dreams''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ippolito, David Living people American folk singers American folk guitarists American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters Central Park American rock guitarists American rock singers American rock songwriters American people of Italian descent American buskers American performance artists Guitarists from New York City Singers from New York City Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from New York (state)