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Charles Magnante was born 7th of December 1905 in New York City on 106th Street in an area known as Harlem.
From very humble roots his unique career placed him on the pinnacle of accordion history.
No one has ever equaled his success as the ultimate world accordion artist.
Throughout his long and fantastic career, Magnante has consistently been considered by many to
be the most finished accordionist of all time.
He was famous for many years as a top radio, television star and recording artist.
He was associated with some of the worlds finest conductors and orchestra leaders performing either as a soloist or a member of
the orchestra. It could be said that Magnante's musical career began at the age of five when he sang along with his Dad,
a popular amateur accordionist, who used to play for many Italian weddings. At the age of seven, he was stealing his father's prized
accordion from the closet and teaching himself to play by ear.
Charles Magnante received his first accordion lesson on his 9th
Birthday. His father was his only teacher. Charlie has known hardship.
At fourteen, one of five children, he worked as a tin
smith's helper for five dollars a week and practiced his accordion late into the night.
He started playing professionally at 14, and
soon began broadcasting. At sixteen he was turning down many offers to tour professionally
as he felt travelling would take up
time which should be spent in continuing his studies.
During the peak of his career he reached the point where he was doing as
many as thirty one radio broadcasts and an average of about eight recording dates in a single week.
His audiences ranged from
small intimate groups to packed auditoriums of three thousand.
One of his greatest thrills was at the Civic Stadium in Buffalo,
NY when he played for an audience of over forty thousand people.
One of Magnante's best known compositions is the novelty solo "Accordiana" which he composed in exactly twenty minutes.
His textbooks, arrangements, and original compositions are numbered by the hundreds and include popular, classical,
jazz, and boogie-woogie.
As an outlet from his strenuous career in music, Magnante engaged in the sport of big game hunting as much as possible.
He had taken over fifty head of big game and was a member of the exclusive Campfire Club of America which is located in
Braircliff Monor, about thirty five miles from New York City.
His prize mount was a one thousand pound grizzly and many of his
hunting experiences were featured articles in a number of sports magazines.
In 1939, he achieved an ultimate ambition when he gave a concert at Carnegie Hall… the first accordionist to ever appear in
that distinguished hall. He was accompanied by his quartet and won rave notices from the leading musical critics.
In recognition of his valuable contribution to his profession, he was elected President of the American Accordionists'
Association in 1950, being also a founding member of the organization.
Magnante's life is the story of a man who overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve success in his chosen field
and become a legend in his own lifetime.
Charles Magnante passed away 30th of December, 1986 having given the world a legacy of accordion achievements unlikely
to be equaled by anyone in the discernible future.
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