On Tuesday, March 6th, Limestone College will continue its Steinway piano series with a performance by Steinway artist Emile Pandolfi. His performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the College’s Fullerton Auditorium and will be followed by a reception with the artist in the Winnie Davis Hall of History. Both events are free and open to the public.

A Greenville, SC resident, Pandolfi was trained in classical piano from the age of five, and his early heroes were Vladimir Horowitz and Artur Rubinstein. After earning his degree in piano performance, Pandolfi began arranging popular music using his classical technique to charm audiences in the United States, the Caribbean, England and Australia.

Perhaps what makes Pandolfi unique is a rare mixture of something old, something new, and something indescribable. His shows reflect Pandolfi’s musical “upbringing” and his desire to entertain the whole family. “What I try to do is to have every tune in the show be a special musical experience – familiar tunes played in a brand new way. When I play, it’s a mix of pop and classical; I like to call it ‘pop-sical’. Whether I’m recording or performing in concert, I like to give 200%; the audience knows that nothing’s being held back, emotionally speaking.”

With almost thirty recordings in his own discography, Pandolfi ranks among America’s most popular piano artists. With the majority of his performance repertoire being lush, intricate arrangements of Broadway and standards that form the pantheon of the “American Popular Songbook,” his influences are, in fact, more classical than pop. And it is this subjective layering of classical style that Pandolfi infuses onto the broad palate of selections performed in his frequent concerts that seems to pluck that connective thread with audiences everywhere.

Pandolfi’s performances are far from straight-backed, formal “recitals.” While, unquestionably, there is finely-tuned, trained technique on display, it is tempered with a gleam in his eye, a quick card trick, an hilarious tale about some early date with his wife, a comic’s turn of phrase, that brings the performance to a different place from what an unknowing first-time audience member might be expecting.

In 1984, he was one of four pianists chosen to record the broadcast version of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” for the official Opening Ceremony of the Olympics in L.A., and was one of the 84 pianists performing live during the ceremony. Eventually deciding that he wanted to raise his children somewhere other than Los Angeles, Pandolfi moved cross-country to Greenville, SC in 1986. Within 45 minutes of arriving in town, he’d landed a piano gig.

He recorded his first solo CD in 1990. Since that time, Pandolfi has recorded 26 albums, with sales exceeding three million units. He now ranks as the top-selling recording artist in the specialty “alternative” market in which gift shop and bookstore sales are classified. His holiday-themed recordings, as are his holiday performances, are best-sellers wherever he goes. Steinway artists like Pandolfi are endorsed by the renowned Steinway & Sons Company and perform exclusively on Steinway pianos.

The Steinway piano series is Limestone’s way of showcasing its fully restored 1969 Steinway “D” piano. Located in Fullerton Auditorium, Limestone’s Steinway was literally dismantled into pieces at the Steinway & Sons facility on Long Island, NY during its restoration. The intensive process lasted nine months and cost over $50,000.

The four-performance series, which has included The Witkowski Piano Duo and Marina Lomazov, will conclude on April 19 with a performance by The Manhattan Trio.