Columbia High School junior Andrew Pellegrino recently released his first album, At My Piano, under the artist name ANDREW, onto streaming services.
At My Piano, a 29-minute pop album with nine songs, is completely self-produced by Pellegrino, and is the culmination of more than a year of work and collaboration with friends, teachers and other artists at CHS.
“Song number five, ‘Singing in the Dark’, is my favorite song. I wrote it with a friend, Emma [Phillips]. And it’s exactly what I want the album to talk about,” Pellegrino said.
Andrew Pellegrino at his piano. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Pellegrino)
Phillips and Pellegrino have been making music together for more than a year. Despite Phillips transferring from CHS to Idyllwild Arts Academy in California for her senior year, Pellegrino still produces Phillips’ music, which she releases regularly.
“I think collaboration is the best part of music,” Pellegrino said. “It’s a little bit of you, and a little bit of ideas from other people. That can really take you from being stuck on something, to creating something you really like.”
Pellegrino credits a lot of his success to the support of Music Tech teacher Emily Vite. “Ms. Vite has been inspirational to me,” he said. “She made me feel comfortable enough to do something big, like make an album. Ever since I was a freshman, she has given me so much encouragement.”
Vite said she is immensely proud of Pellegrino and the work he’s been able to accomplish through the programs and classes at CHS.
ANDREW’s listening party at CHS. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Pellegrino)
“Releasing a self-produced album as a high school student is a massive achievement,” Vite said. “Andrew is one of the hardest working people I know, and I’m pretty sure there’s not a minute in the day that he is not thinking about or actively creating music. He is a fixture in our music studio where he can be found making subtle edits to his productions, asking for critiques, or helping out a new student recording a song for the first time.”
Pellegrino is a member of the Music Studio Club, and a lead audio engineer for Beatfest. Beatfest, which is run by Music Studio Club and Music Industry Club, is a full concert event at the end of the year that features student bands and artists. This year will be its 4th year.
For ANDREW’s set this year, he will be trying something new – playing with a live band. Though this presents new challenges, he said he is excited to make it happen.
“The difference between me and most other bands is that they all regularly play live. When you have something like what I do, which is very electronic heavy, you have to find a way to bridge live audio and pre-recordings and make the performance truly come to life.”
More information about Beatfest, which is on May 28, will be coming soon to the Music Studio Club and Music Industry Club instagrams accounts. You can stream ANDREW’s album, At My Piano, on most streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music. Find links here.
