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The Back Story

Louis Anthony deLiseLouis Anthony deLise was born in Philadelphia and from age five grew up in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He studied jazz drumming as a youngster and taught himself to play the piano by making up tunes and reading through fake books at the family spinet.

His formal studies in composition and orchestral percussion performance (he pursued a double major) began at Temple University in Philadelphia. While still in music school, deLise wrote for local television programs and achieved his first Billboard Magazine “Pick Hit.” After graduation, he split his time between Philly and New York. In New York, deLise studied composition with Stanley Wolf at the Juilliard School. He returned to Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition.

Louis’ first album as featured artist, Natural Light, achieved a top-ten chart position on the Zone Music Reporter (ZMR) charts and was nominated as “Best Neoclassical Album” by the One World Music Awards in 2019. That same year, he was nominated as “Best New Artists” by ZMR. Natural Light included performances by Jeff Oster and Grammy-winner, Nancy Rumbel.

Also in 2019, deLise’s flute concerto, Salone del Astor, was named, “Best Newly Published Mixed Duet” by the National Flute Association. As a session and concert musician, LAd has performed with Tony Bennett, Bob Hope, Diana Ross, Mel Tormé, Cab Calloway, and Luciano Pavarotti among others. 

LAd was arranger and conductor on Grammy-winner Patti LaBelle’s number one hit album, The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle, and was co-producer, co-writer, and arranger/conductor for William DeVaughn’s second hit album, Figures Can’t Calculate. He has arranged for a variety of performers, including the Grammy-winning band, Halestorm, Bunny Sigler, Robert Hazard, and Grammy-winner, Peter Nero. 

Additional songwriting and composing credits include albums and singles on the EMI, Vanguard, Def-Jam, Centaur, and CBS record labels. His arranging and conducting work appears on albums alongside performances by many of the country’s top pop artists including, Carlos Santana, Sheila E., Wynonna Judd, Kanye West, CeCe Winans, and Paul Shaffer.

LAd is the author of The Professional Songwriter, a textbook on the art, craft and business of songwriting.

Dr. deLise has served on the faculties of The Boyer College Music and Dance, Rowan University, and Pennsylvania State University.

LAd’s concert music compositions are available in print from ALRY Publications and Metropolis Music Publishing.

Awards & Honors