Antonio Pontarelli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since May 2006. (help, talk)

Antonio Pontarelli

Antonio Pontarelli is Southern Californian rock musician, singer/songwriter/electric violinist who was won numerous national and international awards, including the Grand Champion of "America's Most Talented Kid" on NBC's PAX TV. In April 2006, he received the most votes of all teens in the Peoples Voice Award of the prestigious International Songwriting Competition for his song "Under Age". In March 2006, he was the "Best Song" winner of SongwriterUniverse for the Hurricane Katrina inspired epic song "Things Fall Apart". In February he was named "Best Instrumentalist" at the 2006 "Southern California Music Awards" and the "Inland Empire Music Awards". Pontarelli's musicality is helping pave the way for a fresh new style of alternative rock.

Classically trained, Pontarelli started composing for national television at 11 and has made 8 national television appearances. He is the winner of 7 violin and concerto competitions and he held the seat the Concert Master of the San Diego Youth Symphony Symphonic orchestra from 2003 to 2005. Pontarelli has played for Grammy (NARAS) events, national television, music festivals, rock concerts, and has made special appearances with some of the most talented Grammy award-winning musicians in the nation. He has shared the stage with Jethro Tull, Billy Preston, the San Diego Symphony and Ray Charles among others. In February 2006, his violin playing and interview aired on major national television stations including "The Tonight Show", CNN, TV Guide and E from the 48th Annual Grammy Awards red carpet.

In Fall 2006, Pontarelli performed classical and electric violin tracks for Serj Tankian's (Lead singer of Modern Rock band, System of a Down) debut solo album to be released the summer of 2007. Pontarelli put together a band of exceptional musicians which have been playing at major events including the final leg of the Torch Relay for the Children's Miracle network in Los Angeles. The band is currently recording their debut CD to be released in 2007. Pontarelli, who was called one of the "hot unsigned acts of 2006" by Music Connection Magazine will soon be heard on the airwaves.