The Friends of the University of Colorado Libraries will present a program titled "Nick Perito: Behind the Scenes with Perry Como" on Thursday, March 14.
The event is free and open to the public and will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Theatre of the Imig Music Building on the CU-Boulder campus. It will celebrate Como's gift of memorabilia to the American Music Research Center in CU-Boulder's College of Music.
Perito of Los Angeles, longtime musical director-arranger-conductor for Como, will discuss his professional experiences with Como and provide musical selections.Ìý
A native of Denver, Perito is a graduate of the Julliard School of Music. During his career as a pianist, arranger, composer and conductor, Perito collaborated with renowned artists such as Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Dinah Shore, Diana Ross, Carol Burnett, Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Frederica Von Stade.
From 1979 through 1993 Perito was musical director and conductor of the Kennedy Center Honors annual television specials. He has received 12 Emmy nominations for his work as a musical director in television.
Completing the program will be a panel of staff members from the American Music Research Center discussing the center's collections. Panel members will include Tom Riis, center director and professor, Laurie Sampsel, head of the music library, and Cassandra Volpe, archivist.
Como's gift of memorabilia to the American Music Research Center included television scripts, sheet music, photos and records from his career.
The Como program is part of the Friends of the CU Libraries' "Treasures" series created to familiarize the public with the contents of CU-Boulder's libraries and how to use them. A reception will follow the program.
Free parking will be available at the Euclid Avenue Autopark across from the Imig Music Building on 18th Street.
The event is co-sponsored by the Daily Camera. For more information call (303) 492-8275.