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John DePaola

Pittsburgh native Trumpeter based in Orlando for 38 years

About Me

John DePaola has been playing trumpet full time for over 40 years. He has travelled extensively throughout the USA and Europe performing. He hails originality from Pittsburgh PA but left the city of three rivers to settle in Orlando, FL, where he has been a full time musician at Walt Disney World and also a member of the Rosie O’Grady’s Good time Jazz Band. Over the decades he has performed with entertainers Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennet, Bob Hope, Johnny Mathis, Kenny Rogers, Frank Sinatra Jr., The Moody Blues, and many others. He has also played for national touring Broadway Shows like West Side Story, Hello Dolly, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, The Producers, “Chicago” and “Wicked”

John has also been a regular performer at jazz festivals across the U.S. with different groups and has also leads his own group, performing for Jazz clubs and societies in Florida. He is a member of the Dr Phillips Center Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Rodney Whitaker and has toured Florida withhe Gordon Goodwins’ “Big “Phat Band” in 2023 and 2025.

As a symphony musician, John has played Principal Trumpet with The Villages Philharmonic since 2003 and also served as Principal Trumpet with the Lakeland Symphony in Lakeland Fl. He also plays with The Brevard Symphony Orchestra and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra when required to do so.

His television and film credits include playing live on the annual NASCAR Awards Special, Television commercials for Walt Disney World Cruise line, Music for the Amazon movie “Being the Ricardo’s” and has recently recorded trumpet tracks for various episodes of the daytime drama “The Young and the Restless”

You can see his performance schedule and check out his latest C.D. on Apple Music here: https://music.lnk.to/IWyUno

On Spotify here: https://music.lnk.to/IWyUno

Schedule & More information on John can be found at: johndepaolamusic.com

Contact Me

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because...because of the freedom of performing , constructing , collaborating, and defining musical moments in real time! I was first exposed to jazz...at a Pittsburgh Night Club where I met and sat with the great Sonny Stitt. The first jazz record I bought was..."Kinda Blue" Miles Davis My advice to new listeners...the only thing that matters is whether or not the music touches you ....your colleagues, friends, family are free to choose as you are. are. Your music is about you.

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