John Serry Sr.

John Serry Sr. (born Giovanni Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an accomplished concert accordionist virtuoso, arranger, composer, organist and educator who performed on the CBS Radio and CBS Television networks. As a concert artist and soloist he elevated the use of the accordion within a full range of professional orchestral ensembles for over four decades during the early twentieth century.

Born Giovanni Serrapica in Brooklyn, New York to Italian-American parents Pasquale Serrapica and Anna Balestrieri of Castellammare di Stabia, Italy, Serry pursued an artistic career which spanned seven decades. As an exponent of Latin American music and the free-bass accordion, he attained recognition through live radio and television performances on the CBS radio and television networks which were broadcast throughout the United States. He acquired additional recognition as the featured piano accordion soloist on the radio music program Viva América, which was broadcast live to South America under the United States Department of State's Office for Inter-American Affairs' (OCIAA) cultural initiative for Voice of America during World War II.

As a member of the CBS Pan American Orchestra (1940–1949) conducted by Alfredo Antonini and the Columbia Concert Orchestra (1940–1949), Serry achieved success as a professional concert accordionist and featured soloist thereby helping to gain recognition for his instrument on the concert stage. Several of his broadcasts with the CBS Orchestra (1949–1960) on the CBS network are available to researchers and members of the general public as part of the permanent archive collection of the Paley Center for Media in New York. Over the decades, he performed with noted orchestral conductors from the realm of classical music, as well as outstanding jazz band leaders. Included among them were: Shep Fields, Erno Rapee, Lester Lanin, Alfredo Antonini, Howard Barlow, Alexander Smallens, Archie Bleyer, Andre Kostelanetz, Percy Faith, Ben Selvin, Guy Lombardo, and Robert Irving. His professional studies were pursued with the 20th-century composer and music educator Robert Strassburg (1915–2003) (who had studied with Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith) and the theater organist Arthur Guttow (who was featured at the keyboard of the Mighty Wurlitzer in Radio City Music Hall).

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