MOL: Tell us about your background.

I began studies with my mother who played for me from before I was born. When I was about four years old, I asked her to teach me to play, and I can still remember staring at music on the piano, (specifically the Bach Bb major Two-Part Invention) and wanting to know how to read it.  I suppose I was around five when she gave in and began to teach me.  After a time I went to a wonderful teacher, Marion Paugh, who was a great influence and cultivated my love for the piano and music in general.  I also took an interest in chamber music at a young age, and had the privilege of being coached in a piano trio by Metta Watts at the New School of Music and Orlando Cole at Curtis Institute.  I realize now that I had many wonderful advantages growing up in the Philadelphia area that I may not have had elsewhere.  It is such a great music city and specifically a piano mecca; once the home of Hofmann and Serkin and the musical home of Rachmaninoff; and today home to many of the most exciting pianists in the world.  One of my great memories is hearing Rubenstein at the Academy of Music when I was ten years old.  I think he was quite old at the time, and it happened to be his birthday-they surprised him by bringing a cake onto the stage!  As a teenager though, I made a conscious decision to go away to study, and came to Cincinnati to learn at University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music after being a winner in a competition for a scholarship given by Van Cliburn.  I studied with Frank Weinstock, a gentle and brilliant man who plays the piano with his brain and heart.  I later earned my Master's degree studying with Sandra Rivers, a marvelous pianist and person. I was her assistant and in those years and the years to follow played literally hundreds of recitals with instrumentalists- violinists, cellists, flutists...it was often hard work but a great joy and invaluable experience.   

MOL: Where do you live now?

Well, it's kind of difficult coming up with a title for a "recital" disc.  It can't be named "Works of..." any one composer, and I didn't like the "Philip Amalong plays..." idea.  It needed an actual title and storia, which means story or history in Italian, seemed in a somewhat abstract way to describe what these works are when together as a program.  The music ranging from Bach to the present time contains the story of the piano. The pianistic tradition is passed along and evolves through the various eras and styles of the composers, though this is a story or history that could be told in countless ways through the piano repertoire.   Also, many of the works on the disc are explicitly programmatic; the "Edward" Ballade of Brahms, the Maiden and the Nightingale of Granados, Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev, the Rondo Capriccioso of dellaPicca with its operatic roots...these have actual stories associated with them.   So, it's a loosely associated title, but I think it encapsulates an idea that pulls together this seemingly disparate collection of works.

MOL: Did you receive grant or fund to create Storia? What do you hope to achieve with this CD?

No, I did not receive a grant.  I've worked for many years with recording and in studios and have come know technology and how to make recordings.  The producer of Storia, Damon Sink, has wonderful musical sensibilities along with excellent technical skills.  I've known Damon for many years, and we've grown together in our knowledge and expertise in recording.  He's a composer and teacher and married to my sister, so we're family as well!  I've had an association with Eroica Classical Recordings for a few years now (this is my second disc for the label) and the CEO, Larry Russell, is very open to our project ideas and works tirelessly to promote his artists.  As for achievement, it's simply the process itself.  I hope people enjoy the CD.

MOL: Tell us about the photo of your CD. I guess its your hand and the baby... Does this have anything to do with the recording?

Yes, that is my son's hand in mine.   The generational aspect follows the "story" of the piano and the passing-on of traditions and new generations carrying on with their own voice. In another sense, a symbolic one, the little hand is mine holding that of the masterful composers-I approach them with wonder and awe. 

MOL: Visiting your website, I notice that you compose too... tell us more about your composition and types of technique you use.

Composing is a habit, a constant honing of the craft, a daily effort.   I occasionally create a piece-songs, instrumental works, and I think my ideas are pretty good.  But I don't work at it daily, the way one must to really wear the hat of a composer, who is a highly-skilled craftsman as well as creative artist.   For many years I did work as a creator and producer of commercial music; jingles, soundtracks, television background.  I still do this occasionally.  In my years of experience with this I learned about many things, from personalities to business to studio production.  I spent years in the studio with MIDI and then digital audio and followed the technologies as they progressed.  I have a small Mac-based MIDI and digital audio workstation in my home now.  So my composition has to be "inspired" I guess you could say, either by a paying client, or an event such as a recital.  I composed an "Ave Maria" for my wife for our wedding, and I'm proud of that.  My sister is a flutist and I have composed works for us to play in recital.  

MOL: Tell us about the selection of music in your recording (Bach, Brahms, Ginastera, Prokofiev etc.). And how do the selected compositions reflect the title of CD, Storia?

I've already spoken about the title, but the compositions are simply pieces that I love to play.  The Bb minor Prelude and Fugue is my favorite from the Well-Tempered Clavier.  The Ginastera Sonata is a piece that I perform frequently and audiences seem to greatly enjoy it.  Great pieces of music are like lifelong friends, and our relationships with them change over the years.  Some of these works I've played for years, others for not so long.  Brahms is a composer whose music often leaves me awestruck; "where did that idea come from?"  In masterworks of music we get a sense of the great possibilities of the human mind and spirit, the ability to combine craft and inspiration in a way that creates beauty.   Beauty is our glimpse of the infinite.  So I don't necessarily look for music that represents me, as much as look for music that I think I can honestly represent.  
 
MOL: Among the selected works, if you had to record again, what improvements can you make and why? Furthermore, what works do you want to record in the future? And why?

Some of my ideas about the pieces would change over time, and I suppose at that moment I'd consider them improvements.  I would have preferred to record the entire disc (Storia) on the same piano, but circumstances were such that I had to record in two different places.  I have many future recording projects about which I'm excited.  I hope to record the complete solo piano works of Alberto Ginastera.   I've also been collecting scores and working on another project about which I'm very excited-so excited that all I want to reveal now is that it is twentieth-century piano music and that it will have many world-premieres as well as some brand new pieces composed specifically for the recording (which I guess would make it twenty-first century as well!)  I'm also planning to record the complete solo piano and chamber music of Angelo dellaPicca-perhaps within the next year.  I just finished recording for another Eroica disc with flutist Jeannine Dennis (our second)-this will have all works by twentieth-century American composers (Lucas Foss, Katherine Hoover, Gary Schocker, Mark Lehman, Lowell Liebermann.)  It should be out by March or April 2004.  I'm just beginning a recording project with a violinist-recording the violin/piano sonatas of Elgar and Busoni. Perhaps one day I'll record some of my own compositions, but that's not a project that's in planning right now.

MOL: What are some of your upcoming concerts in 2004?

I'm playing locally and regionally most of the year.  I'll be playing recitals at universities and colleges in the Midwest, chamber music in Dayton, Ohio, recitals in the Philadelphia area.  Plans are underway for concerts in Italy in 2005.

MOL: Do you have hobbies?

My main hobby is cycling.  I used to race on the mountain bike and have done a few road races.  My brother and I and two friends had a team and we raced in the 24 Hours of Snowshoe in West Virginia four years in a row.  It was a grueling event, but unbelievably fun.  My cycling now is recreational.  I need to do more...it's a great way to keep in shape and great fun.  I may be able to talk my brother into going to France one of these years to follow and watch the Tour on our bikes.

MOL: You have a film project coming up? (I saw this in your website) Tell us about it...

I recently finished some scores for short films that will be presented at different festivals.  One was part of the 48 Hour Film Festival, which involves writing, filming, editing, composing music...all in 48 hours, with the end product being a complete short film.  It was great fun-we turned our film in with only 17 seconds to spare!    I don't have any upcoming projects scheduled, but something may come up.   I have an idea for a piano performance DVD...but I need to finish my current recording projects first! 

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