Tony Salicandro

Biography

Tony Salicandro holds a Bachelor of Music in Flute from UArts. He has been an adjunct professor of saxophone, clarinet, and flute at UArts from 1993 to the present. In addition, he was an adjunct professor at Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, for 25 years.

Salicandro has performed with all the Atlantic City casino orchestras and the Philly Pops. He has performed at Cape May Jazz Festival and Collingswood Jazz Festival, both in New Jersey, and Reading Jazz Festival and Media Jazz Festival, both in Pennsylvania.

Salicandro’s radio and TV credits include The Tonight Show, several HBO specials from The Sands in Atlantic City and the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, The Miss America Pageant, the soundtrack for Dick Clark’s Freedom Festival, Live from The Sands Hotel with Linda Ronstadt and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, and 50 Years of Johnny Mathis Live from the Tropicana. He has also toured with Ben Vereen and Lou Rawls, and his playing can be heard on CDs featuring Bobby Rydell, Lou Rawls, and the Philadelphia-based Brazilian jazz group Minas with the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia.

Experience

Solo and ensemble member 

2000–present

• Venues

  • Caesar’s, Tropicana, Borgata, and Trump Castle Hotel, all in Atlantic City

  • Academy of Music, Mann Music Center, the Kimmel Center, Walnut Street Theatre, Chris’s Café, The Salon (hosted by Andrea Clearfield), and Lowes Philadelphia Hotel, all in Philadelphia 

  • Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, Delaware

• Festivals

  • Swedesboro Jazz Festival and Collingswood Jazz Festival (“Jazz in the Woods”), New Jersey

  • Jazz Media Festival and Reading Festival, Pennsylvania

• Ensembles, etc.

  • Peter Nero and the Philly Pops

  • Ocean City Pops, New Jersey

  • Minas, Philadelphia’s premier Brazilian jazz ensemble (concert and 

  • CDs)

  • Richie Rome Orchestra, Richie Rome Trio, Vince Montana Orchestra, and Judith Kay

  • Chamber Jazz Ensemble

  • Tony Salicandro and Friends featuring Gina Roche

1993–2000

• Venues

  • All casino theaters, Atlantic City

  • Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons (Swan Lounge), St. Regis Hotel, and World Café, Philadelphia 

• Ensembles, etc. 

  • Peter Nero and the Philly Pops

  • Minas

• Festivals & Events 

  • Cape May Jazz Festival and South Jersey Builders’ League Show and Awards Gala (music director and conductor), New Jersey

  • Mellon Jazz Festival, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 

  • Germantown Jazz Festival, Philadelphia

House orchestra

1985–1992

• Harrah’s, Bally’s Grand Casino, Tropicana Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, Caesar’s, Taj Mahal, Bally’s Park Place Casino, Sands Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City Stockton Chamber Players, and Atlantic City ChamberEnsemble, all in New Jersey

• Wilkes Barre Scranton Theater, Pennsylvania

1970–1984

• Venues

  • Caesars Resorts, Sands Hotel and Casino, Steel Pier, Atlantic City Harlem Club, Atlantic City Stockton Chamber Players, and Atlantic City Chamber Ensemble, New Jersey

  • Palumbo’s Supper Club, Forest Theater, and Shubert Theater, Philadelphia

  • Valley Forge Music Fair and Downingtown Inn, Pennsylvania

• Ensembles, etc.

  • The Latin Casino Orchestra

  • Tony Salicandro Jazz Ensemble

Salicandro has also performed as an orchestra member for dozens of high-profile and legendary performers, with star performers including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horn, Marvin Hamlisch, Burt Bacharach, Joel Gray, Cher, The Supremes, The Temptations, The OJ’s, The Spinners, The 5th Dimension, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and many, many others.