John Serry (born John Louis Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voice of America's cultural diplomacy initiatives during the Golden Age of Radio. He also concertized on the accordion as a member of several orchestras and jazz ensembles for nearly forty years between the 1930s and 1960s.Allegro, American Federation of Musicians, New York, January 2004, Vol CIV, Obituary and the date of death for John Serry listed as Sept. 14, 2003 as posted by his son John Serry Jr. No. 1.
Biography Serry's career spanned over seven decades. As a proponent of Latin American music and the free-bass accordion, he performed as the piano accordionist on the radio music program Viva América, which was broadcast live to South America under the United States Department of State's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs' cultural diplomacy initiative for Voice of America during World War II. (See photograph showing Serry seated as the accordionist in the orchestra above the caption "The Latin-American artist Juan Arvizu with the CBS Pan American Orchestra conducted by Alfredo Antonini"The New York Times, January 8, 1941, p. 18The New York Times, January 1, 1942, p. 27The New York Times, May 10, 1942, p. SM10The New York Times, February 28, 1943, p. X9Time, June 1, 1942. Broadcasts of this show have been cited as helping to introduce Latin American music and the Mexican bolero to large audiences in the United States in the 1940s.Media Sound & Culture in Latin America & The Caribbean. Editors: Bronfman, Alejandra & Wood, Andrew Grant. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2012, p. 49 Alfredo Antonini's CBS Pan American Orchestra, "Viva America" and Latin American music in the United States on Books.Google.Cmm See p. 49
Serry performed with big bands, symphony orchestras, radio and television orchestras, and Broadway orchestras at the Radio City Music Hall, the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center (1935); the Starlight Roof at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (1936–1937);Accordion News, November, 1937.Accordion World, March, 1946, Vol. 11 #11 the Palmer House in Chicago (1938);The Los Angeles Examiner, October 9, 1938, p. 1 the Stevens Hotel in Chicago (1938); the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles (1938); Carnegie Hall with Alfredo Antonini conducting (1946);The New York Times, May 12, 1946, p. 42 the Plaza Hotel (1940s); The Town Hall (1941–1942);The Nation, March 7, 1942, Vol. 154, #10"Diseuse in Debut Here". The New York Times, March 1, 1942, p. 36The New York Times, May 28, 1941, p. 32 the Waldorf Astoria Hotel's Wedgewood Room (1948), The Rajah Theatre (1953),"Current Attratcions: Theatre Timetable: Rajah Accordion Concert: featuring John Serry" Reading Eagle, May 3, 1953 p. 38 on Books Google the Ed Sullivan Theater (1959) for CBS television; the Empire Theater (New York) (1953);New York Journal-American (see the photograph of Serry's signature inscribed with signatures of other members of the cast on the stage door of the Empire Theatre at the closing of the play The Time of the Cuckoo), May 25, 1953, p. 15 Phoenix Theatre (1956) and such New York cafe society nightspots as: El Morocco, El Chico and The Riviera in the 1930s. During the course of these performances he appeared under the musical direction of several noted conductors including: Alfredo Antonini, Mischa Borr, Percy Faith, Shep Fields, Mitch Miller and Andre Kostelanetz.
Serry was born John Serrapica in Brooklyn, New York to Pasquale Serrapica and Anna Balestrieri, the fourth-born of thirteen siblings. His Italian father immigrated to America from Gragnano, Italy after passing through Ellis Island in 1904 and 1914. The family owned a grocery store after initially moving to Navy Street in 1905, and subsequently taking up residence on 18th Avenue in the Bensonhurst section. His formal musical education included studies with the accordionist Joseph Rossi from 1926 to 1929 at the Pietro Deiro School in New York. At the age of fifteen he performed live on the Italian radio station WCDA. By the age of nineteen, Serrapica was already enrolled as a member of the American Federation of Musicians in 1934. In addition, he undertook studies in piano and harmony with Albert Rizzi from 1929 to 1932 and in harmony and counterpoint with Gene Von Hallberg for two years."Biography", Accordion World, March 1946, Vol. 11, #11, p. 3 Von Hallberg served as a cofounder of the American Accordionists Association in 1938. Hallberg later appeared in the Magnante Quartet before an audience of three thousand concertgoers at Carnegie Hall in 1939 A lifelong friendship with the accordionist Louis Del Monte was established as a result of these studies. Del Monte awakened Serry's interest in Latin American music. Advanced studies in harmony and orchestration were completed under the instruction of the composer Robert Strassburg in the 1940s.
Career The 1930s: The big band era
The period from 1938 to 1960 has been described as a unique period of prestige for the accordion in the United States when it attained more widespread acceptance by the public as a "serious instrument" on the concert hall stage. At the age of sixteen, Serrapica had already performed as a soloist on the AM radio station WOV in New York City during several live broadcasts in 1931 following his debut on WCDA in 1930. With the help of Del Monte, in the 1930s Serry continued his professional career by making appearances with the Ralph Gomez Tango Orchestra at The Rainbow Room at the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center,Accordion News, March, 1935 leading to an extended engagement there in 1935. In the same year he also performed under the direction of Erno Rapee at the Radio City Music Hall in a production of "The Magazine Rack", a revue which was choreographed by Russell Merkert for the Rockettes. He also played with the Hugo Mariani Tango Orchestra at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York and once again in Chicago with Frank Pruslin and Syd Fox (1936) and with Alfred Brito, a Cuban orchestra leader in New York (1936), and Misha Borr, conductor of the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra. He appeared as a soloist for society functions at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel's Waldorf Towers and at its Starlight Roof with the Lester Lanin Orchestra. In addition, he performed regularly at clubs such as El Morocco, the Rainbow Room, El Chico, and the Riviera in New York City.
The "golden age of the accordion" continued to evolve in America from 1910 to 1960 and some piano accordionists suddenly enjoyed acceptance as performers within the best known dance bands, jazz ensembles and big band ensembles such as the Paul Whiteman orchestra. As the decade came to a close, Serry acquired a position with the jazz ensemble Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm during a nationwide tour which included live radio broadcasts from the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, and the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California, over the NBC network (1937–1938). These big band remote broadcasts used Zenith's Radiogran technology. In 1937, he also recorded the distinctive Shep Fields' theme song with the Shep Fields Rippling Rhythm Orchestra for Eli Oberstein on RCA Victor's Bluebird label (Victor, BS-017494, 1937). His performances as a member of the orchestra are also documented in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938 ("This Little Ripple Had Rhythm" and "Thanks for the Memory"), which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1939. While touring with Shep Fields, he also recorded several popular songs of the time for Bluebird Records, including "With a Smile and a Song", "Whistle While You Work", and "Now It Can Be Told".
At the young age of only 23 in 1938, Serry was already collaborating on stage with several noted accordionists of the early 20th century including: Andy Arcari, Anthony Mecca, Domenic Mecca, Pietro Deiro and Joe Biviano.Tempo – "Accordionists Stage a 'Jam Session'" Vol 6, No. 3, 1938 p. 4 Photograph and caption identifying John Serry, Andy Arcari, Anthony Mecca, Domenic Mecca, Pietro Deiro and Joe Biviano in concert at the Stevens Hotel. Google search for "John Serry AFM" and click on "EmPo- World Radio History" or See the link on this page at https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Music-Miscellaneous/Tempo-1938-09.pdf The six accordionists joined forces at the north ballroom of the legendary Stevens Hotel in Chicago for an "Accordion Jamfest" before an audience of over 1000 concertgoers in September 1938.Tempo – "Accordionists Stage a 'Jam Session'" Vol 6, No. 3, 1938 p. 4 Photograph and caption identifying John Serry, Andy Arcari, Anthony Mecca, Domenic Mecca, Pietro Deiro and Joe Biviano in concert at the Stevens Hotel. Google search for "John Serry AFM" and click on "EmPo- World Radio History" or See the link on this page to at https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Music-Miscellaneous/Tempo-1938-09.pdf The concert occurred soon after Andy Arcari's noted accordion recital at Philadelphia's Academy of Music in May 1938, where critics praise him for his brilliance. In a few short months both Biviano and the Mecca brothers would appear with Charles Magnante, Gene Von Hallberg and Abe Goldman to introduce the accordion in recital for the first time to an audience of classical music concertgoers in Carnegie Hall (April, 1939).
The 1940s: The golden age of radio Serry married Julia Trafficante in the 1940s and moved to Nassau County, New York on Long Island to raise a family of four children which included John Serry Jr. The original family name of Serrapica was anglicized by John to Serry. He simultaneously undertook private studies with: Joscha Zade in piano (1945–1946); Arthur Guttow, an organist at the Radio City Music Hall (1946);The New York Times, November 18, 1945, p. 50 and Robert Strassburg in Orchestration and Advanced Harmony (1948–1950). He specialized in the works of Gershwin, Debussy, and Ravel."Who Is Who In Music International 1958", Who Is Who In Music International, Chicago, IL. Biographical File # B11719. See International Biographical Center, Cambridge, England as current publisher.
During the 1930s and 1940s many accordionists emerged as performers on American radio, the new mass entertainment medium of the time. Building upon his concert experiences of the 1930s, Serry entered the golden age of radio performing on the CBS radio network and assisted several concert artists in New York City including the French diseuse Marianne Oswald (aka Marianne Lorraine) in her English speaking debut of "One Woman Theatre" performing the poem Mr. Lincoln and His Gloves (by Carl Sandburg), Never Before (by Archibald MacLeish) and poems by Jean Cocteau and Jacques Prevert at Town Hall (1942). The concert was hosted by the Free World Association and presented with the patronage of Eleanor Roosevelt . This performance was praised in The Players Magazine – National Journal of Educational Dramatics as a "fresh experience and intriguing in its uniqueness." The New York Times described it as being skillfully presented. For ten years Serry performed as an original member of Alfredo Antonini's CBS Pan American Orchestra (1940–1949) (See the photograph showing Serry seated as the accordionist in the orchestra above the caption "The Latin-American artist Juan Arvizu with the CBS Pan American Orchestra conducted by Alfredo Antonini")"A Pictorial History of Radio" by Irving Settel Caption for the photograph of the CBS Pan American Orchestra with Juan Arvizu conducted by Alfredo Antonini on Page 146 on Books.Google. Accessed December 29, 2022.The New York Times, November 5, 1983, p. 34 on the Viva América program for the Department of State's Office of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) in support of its cultural diplomacy initiatives.