Moccio returns to play Western

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By Communications Staff
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
You've heard his tunes - sung by such luminaries as Celine Dion, Sarah Brightman and Josh Groban. You've heard his Olympic theme I Believe by Nikki Yanofsky. Now you can hear Stephan Moccio at Western.

Moccio, a Music alumnus, returns to Western Thursday, Nov. 11 to perform at 2 and 8 p.m. in the Paul Davenport Theatre. He will play and talk about his latest solo recording Color. Released Nov. 2, it is already in the top 10 on iTunes and made Moccio the No. 1 Canadian pop artist on the chart. Color is a collection of 29 inspirational, romantic piano compositions, some recorded with orchestra.
 
 
 
At the performances, Moccio will share some of his inspirations and stories of how the pieces were written. The Olympic theme came to him as he cradled his newborn daughter and sang the tune into his telephone answering machine. That was four years before the Vancouver Olympics, but the initial 12 seconds on tape evolved into the theme heard throughout the broadcasts.
 
Moccio kept it a secret, not even sharing it with long-time collaborator Alan Frew, front man of the Canadian band Glass Tiger. When he did finally play a bit for Frew, he was so impressed he called his friend Keith Pelley, president of Canada's Olympic Broadcast Consortium, and invited the two for dinner. And 14 months later, Moccio was conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and various singers in the 220 different cuts.
 
Moccio's resume includes Dion's multi-platinum hit A New Day Has Come. He first met her at Alumni Hall in 1993 when he was a student, and she was already a superstar. He told her backstage he was going to write a hit for her. A New Day Has Come was number one for half a year and sold 14 million copies.
 
Moccio has played keyboards for Prozzak, collaborated with Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings and played piano with the Philosopher Kings. He studied piano at Western with John-Paul Bracey. His classical training also comes into play when he arranges, including music for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He plans to do more with orchestras in the future.
 
At the moment, his manager James Porter, also a Western grad, says Moccio is on the A-list of composers and is working with Madonna. His first solo album, Exposure, was a collection of elegant piano works, which shot to number one in Quebec and tenth in Canada - the highest-charting instrumental album in more than 25 years. Color is already climbing higher.
 
Tickets ($25 adults/$15 students) for the performances are available in advance at the Orchestra London box office, by calling 519-679-8778, or at the door.

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