Tony Salicandro is known among local musicians as one of the most established Greater Philadelphia instrumentalists. Tony plays saxophone, flute and clarinet and is the director of The Conservatory of Musical Arts in Audubon, New Jersey, where he conducts his private studio along with 30 other teachers.
Tony holds a Bachelor of Music in Flute from the University of the Arts. He is an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Saxophone, Clarinet and Flute at the University of the Arts 1993- present. In addition, he was an adjunct professor for 25 years at Rowan University.
He has performed with all of the Atlantic City Casino Orchestras and The Philly Pops. He has performed at The Cape May Jazz Festival, Reading Jazz Festival, Collingswood Jazz Festival and the Media Jazz Festival. He has performed with such celebrity musicians as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis, Sammy Davis Jr, Burt Bacharach, Cher, Sheena Easton and Barry Manilow. He has worked with innumerable iconic Motown acts, from the Temptations and The Spinners to The O’Jays, The Supremes, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Blue Magic, and Al Green.
Tony’s radio and television credits include “The Tonight Show”, several HBO specials from The Sands in AC and The Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, “‘The Miss America Pageant”, the soundtrack for “Dick Clark’s Freedom Festival”, Live from The Sands Hotel with Linda Ronstadt and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, and 50 Years of Johnny Mathis Live from The Tropicana. Tony has also toured with Ben Vereen and Lou Rawls, and his playing can be heard on CDs featuring Bobby Rydell, Lou Rawls, and the Philadelphia-based Brazilian jazz group Minas, with the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia.