James Di Pasquale (born April 7, 1941) is an American musician and composer of contemporary classical music and music for television and films.

Biography

Pasquale was born on April 7, 1941 in Chicago to Hugo and Lucille (née Ciccone) Di Pasquale, James Di Pasquale is a graduate of St. Mel's High School in Chicago. He graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers included David Diamond and Ludmila Uhlela. Before turning full-time to composition, he had a varied career as a woodwinds performer with the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

, the Bolshoi Ballet, and the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

. He performed as a jazz musician with

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

, and

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

as well as many others. He was one of the original members of the

Paul Winter Consort The Paul Winter Consort is an American musical group. Bassist Eliot Wadopian has been a member. Discography Films *''Canyon Consort'' (1985) References External linksLiving Music- Paul Winter's record label {{Authority control American j ...

. In 1984, he served as the Organizing Chairman and first President of the Society of Composers and Lyricists. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and on the Writer’s Advisory Committee at the

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

(ASCAP).

Music for television

He wrote the musical scores to made-for-TV movies such as: '' Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic'' (1975), ''Fantasies'' (1982), '' Two of a Kind'' (1982), ''

Quarterback Princess ''Quarterback Princess'' is a 1983 American made-for-television fact-based sports drama film by 20th Century Fox that chronicles the courage and determination of a teenage girl who struggles against sexism and fights to play on her high school f ...

'' (1983), '' The Shell Seekers'' (1989), ''The Killing Mind'' (1991), ''Runaway Father'' (1991), ''

In the Best Interest of the Children ''In the Best Interest of the Children'' is a 1992 American made-for-television fact-based drama film starring Sarah Jessica Parker who plays a woman struggling with manic-depression while raising her five children. This leads to the children e ...

'' (1992), ''Seduction: Three Tales from the "Inner Sanctum"'' (1992); and television series such as: '' Columbo'', ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'', ''

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

'', ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', ''

McClain's Law ''McClain's Law'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on NBC during the 1981–1982 season. New episodes ended on March 20, and rebroadcasts continued until August 24, 1982. Summary The series starred former ''Gunsmoke'' le ...

'', '' Chicago Story'', '' Cutter to Houston'' and ''

Trauma Center A trauma center (or trauma centre) is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. A trauma center may also refer to an emergen ...

''. He has received three Emmy Awards, six Emmy nominations, and a

CableACE Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Am ...

nomination for his work in television.

Music for films

His motion picture scores include ''

Fast Break Fast break is an offensive strategy in basketball and handball. In a fast break, a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible, so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. The ...

'' (1979) and ''

Rad RAD or Rad may refer to: People * Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver * Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist * Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician * Radley R ...

'' (1986).

Classical works

His compositions for the concert hall include: *Sonata for

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

*Quartet for

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

, and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

*Symphony in one movement *In Absentia: Elegy for Stan Getz *Monologia for solo horn (for

Dale Clevenger Dale Clevenger (July 2, 1940 – January 5, 2022) was an American musician who was the Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1966 until his retirement in June, 2013.

, principal

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

of the

) *Interplay and Showing Great Restraint (for Chicago Current, a jazz–fusion ensemble of Chicago Symphony players.)

Recordings

He has also worked as a record producer. His credits include: *With You, I'm Born Again ( Billy Preston and

Syreeta Syreeta Wright (February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights we ...

), a top five single *Glider ( Auracle), a top ten jazz album His "Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Piano" has been recorded by saxophonists such as

James Houlik James Houlik ( ; born December 4, 1942 in Bay Shore, New York) is an American classical tenor saxophonist and saxophone teacher. Family life Houlik is married for the third time, and has fathered four children. He has four grand children and four ...

Frederick Hemke Fred Hemke, DMA ''(né'' Frederick Leroy Hemke Jr.; July 11, 1935 – April 17, 2019) was an American virtuoso classical saxophonist and influential professor of saxophone at Northwestern University. Hemke helped raise the popularity of clas ...

and Steven Mauk, saxophone instructor at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY.

Personal life

He married Donna McNeely in 1995. They were divorced in 2003. One son, Marco James Di Pasquale, was born in 1998.

External links

NY Times filmography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Pasquale, James 1941 births Living people American male classical composers American classical composers American film score composers American television composers Male television composers Male film score composers Manhattan School of Music alumni Primetime Emmy Award winners 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians