excerpt of cd

PETER ALDIGHIERI - A BRIEF HISTORY

Peter Aldighieri was born July 1, 1925 in Ridgefield Park N.J.
At the age of 13 his professional piano life started and it never stopped until he did on January 12th 2010.

The son of Jerry Aldighieri and Elsie Darwin Aldighieri, his maternal grandmother played a vital part in his life by selling hen's eggs to raise money for piano lessons. When he reached 13 years old, his father died, his mother went to hospital, and he went to work playing piano in local bars.

He served in the Navy and tested Torpedos in Maryland during the Korean War. With a G.I. scholarship he studied at the New York Conservatory of music until they realised he had not graduated high school. Many years later after raising a family he returned to Felician College and earned a Batchelor of Arts degree in Teaching.

Peter was an inventive genious of the piano who worked in many clubs and restaurants in Passaic County and Ocean County. He gave private piano lessons to young and old throughout his long career in music. His first wife Joan bore him 2 daughters. His second wife Eleanore passed before him and in gratitude for his wife's final care he gave concerts and lead choral singing for seniors at the Baylee Nursing Home, and played for services at the Forked River Methodist Church and a Methodist Church service at the Tim Ryan Funeral Home.

Having perfect pitch and a fascination for mathematics, Peter was a jazzman at heart.
He loved to compose songs off the top of his head based on your phone number or favorite date. He loved teaching. Many of his students went on to exciting careers in carpentry, chicken farming, espionage, transportation, money-laundering, catering, and of course, music.