by Len Lear

When Tom DiNardo, now 70, was growing up in Germantown, his ambition in life was “to be a great shortstop while writing fabulous short stories which dazzled ‘em with vivid imagery.”

Well, the “shortstop” thing did not work out so well for the Germantown Friends School graduate, but the “short stories” did pan out in a way because Tom wound up writing thousands of short stories, so to speak, as a freelance journalist about symphonies, chamber music groups, ballet and dance companies, jazz and pop artists, etc. Most of his articles appeared in the late Philadelphia Evening Bulletin and the Philadelphia Daily News.

Tom, who lived in Mt. Airy for a few years after graduating from Tufts University in Medford, MA, with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering, then moved back to Germantown, where he has stayed for 35 years. Although Tom has worked in engineering ever since, his real passion has been interviewing and getting to know many of the country’s most talented and acclaimed musicians, particularly in classical music and opera. Which ones were his favorites?

“Since my intention in the interviews was to discover the personal motivations in their performing lives, the ones who were the most forthcoming were best,” said Tom.

“This was aided by the fact that I didn’t do reviews, so they knew from my questions that I was sincerely interested in them. Luckily, there were many: Bill Evans, John Williams, Renee Fleming, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Denyce Graves, Lang Lang and Mel Torme. I am proud to say that every single Philadelphia Orchestra music director and musician told me things that were personal and genuine.”

Tom’s countless compelling stories are contained in two stunning new books, ““Performers Tell Their Stories: 40 Years Inside the Arts” and “Listening to Musicians: 40 Years of the Philadelphia Orchestra” (Jaygayle Music Books, 2016).

To provide one anecdotal example, “Luciano Pavarotti once laughed at me when I told him the only person I ever wanted to meet — and never did — was Gene Kelly.” “The tap-dance guy,” he roared. “Why him?”

“Because for a little while after I came out of the movie theater, I believed I could dance like that.” “Don’t you feel that way when you hear me sing?” (Pavarotti said)

“No way.”

“Madonna mia!! He’s just a tap-dancer!”

Now anyone with a modicum of curiosity might wonder how a man with a degree in electrical engineering winds up writing interview features about famous musicians for daily newspapers. The answer is that Tom DiNardo is undoubtedly the only person in human history who wound up writing music features as a result of attending a séance.

According to Tom, a Baghdad-born piano tuner, Alexander Sargis, invited him to a séance in the fall of 1972 given by an acquaintance from Bali at a center city apartment fragrant with incense. There Tom was introduced to James Felton, who at the time was the classical music reviewer for the Evening Bulletin.

On their ride home, “Jim mentioned that he had been collecting background information for a biography of conductor Leopold Stokowski for many years. He had recently realized that he was simply too emotionally involved with the project to complete it and had been looking for a ghost writer. (Ed. Note: It makes perfect sense to look for a ghost writer after attending a séance.)

“I volunteered to do a sample and agreed that the two years Stoky conducted the Cincinnati Symphony, a finite period with specific information, would make a reasonable trial. The chapter went smoothly, and Jim liked it enough to show me an upstairs room piled high with papers, books and notes, some discovered in trips to London and to Poland, demonstrating how fanatical his project had become.

“A couple of weeks went by, and Jim called with news; my chapter had been stolen from his desk at the Bulletin. He felt it was an omen and soon sold the whole roomful of background material to another writer. Over a year later, in February of 1974, Jim called and asked if I wanted to do a freelance review for the Bulletin. And those are the steps I took to be a newspaper journalist.”

DiNardo’s books also provide information on such topics as how to produce a grand opera in the Academy of Music, the pros and cons of freelance writing (yes, folks, there are “cons”) and Tom’s journeys to Hollywood.

But the essence of the books is Tom’s respect for the courage and determination of those who sacrifice so much to become artistic creators against all odds. “I once asked a dancer, who was changing shoes on bloody feet, why she underwent such a daily ordeal, low pay, only a year-to-year contract and a relatively short career. Her answer: ‘If we didn’t love this more than anything else in life, it wouldn’t be possible.’”

DiNardo will have a book signing at the Pen and Pencil Club, 1522 Latimer St. in center city, on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 8 p.m.

For more information, visit tomdinardobooks.wordpress.com.

-- To be continued