Michael Pinnella

{{Infobox musical artist  | name = Michael Pinnella | image = Symphony X-49 (53988732302) (cropped).jpg | landscape = yes | caption = Pinnella performing with Symphony X in 2024 | image_size =  | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Michael Pinnella | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|8|29}} | birth_place = Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, U.S. | origin = | instrument = Keyboards, piano, backing vocals | genre = Progressive metal, neoclassical metal, power metal | occupation = Musician, songwriter | years_active = 1994–present | label = | associated_acts = Symphony X | website = | current_members = | past_members = }}

'''Michael Pinnella''' (born August 29, 1969) is an American keyboard player, most notably for the band Symphony X. Michael is one of two Symphony X members to appear on all nine of the band's albums (the other being Michael Romeo).

He has released two solo albums, titled ''Enter By the Twelfth Gate'' (2004)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2011-07-21 |title=-=Symphony X-Official Website=- |url=http://www.symphonyx.com/michael_pinnella.html |access-date=2023-02-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721164621/http://www.symphonyx.com/michael_pinnella.html | archive-date=July 21, 2011 }}</ref> and ''Ascension'' (2014),<ref>{{Citation |title=Michael Pinnella - Ascension |date=December 16, 2014 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/8460040-Michael-Pinnella-Ascension |language=en |access-date=2023-02-05}}</ref> mostly composed of instrumental, classical-styled progressive metal.

In 2016, Pinnella ranked #11 in Loudwire's Top 25 Rock + Metal Keyboardists of All Time,<ref>{{Cite web |last=DiVita |first=Joe|title=Top 25 Rock + Metal Keyboardists of All Time |url=https://loudwire.com/top-rock-metal-keyboardists-all-time/ |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=Loudwire |date=November 2, 2016 |language=en}}</ref> praised for being an "essential component of Symphony X’s overarching epic nature".

==Biography== Pinnella was born in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey and was encouraged since childhood to follow music. When he was four years old, he started taking piano lessons.<ref name=":0" /> He was heavily influenced by classic composers like Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and Bach.

When he was about 11 years old, he started to practice more seriously. Later in his youth, he was impressed by Yngwie Malmsteen and asked his parents to buy him a keyboard.<ref name=":0" /> When he got into college, he studied piano performance, theory and composition, and other musical courses. Other influences came from progressive/metal bands from the 1970s (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) and from the 1980s (DIO, Ozzy Osbourne).<ref name=":0" />

When Pinnella finished college, he started teaching piano in a music store. One of the fellow teachers at the store was friends with Michael Romeo from Symphony X. In 1994, he was hired by the band as a keyboardist.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-03-19 |title=Michael Romeo Interview – A Perfect Symphony Part One: 1970's to 2000. {{!}} All Out Guitar {{!}} Magazine Archive |url=http://alloutguitar.com/interviews/michael-romeo-interview-%E2%80%93-perfect-symphony-part-one-1970s-2000 |access-date=2023-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319072647/http://alloutguitar.com/interviews/michael-romeo-interview-%E2%80%93-perfect-symphony-part-one-1970s-2000 |archive-date=March 19, 2016 }}</ref>

Pinnella's nephew, Chris Pinnella, is a vocalist who worked with Trans-Siberian Orchestra.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=Chris Pinnella, Chloe Lowery and 8-Piece Orchestra Set for Save Our Stages Concert |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/new-jersey/article/Chris-Pinnella-Chloe-Lowery-and-8-Piece-Orchestra-Set-for-Save-Our-Stages-Concert-20210204 |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Equipment== [[File:SymphonyxMichaelPinella.jpg|thumb|Michael Pinnella with Symphony X at Gods of Metal 2007]] Pinnella uses the following equipment: * Yamaha Motif ES7 * Roland V-Synth GT

==Discography==

=== With Symphony X === {{Main|Symphony X#Discography}}

=== With Michael Romeo ===

* ''The Dark Chapter'' (1994)

=== Solo ===

* ''Enter by the Twelfth Gate'' (2004) * ''Ascension'' (2014)

=== With Mike LePond's Silent Assassins ===

* ''Mike LePond's Silent Assassins'' (2014) * ''Pawn And Prophecy'' (2018) * ''Whore of Babylon'' (2020)

=== As a guest ===

* Various (''Cult of One'') – Whiplash (1996) * "Strike Me Blind" (''Thrashback'') – Whiplash (1998) * Various (''Gone Forever'') – God Forbid (2004) * "We Will Fly" (''Atomic Soul'') – Russell Allen (2005) * Various (''Earthsblood'') – God Forbid (2009) * "A Vision of You" (''Sonic Stomp II'') – Mike Orlando (2010) * "Sirius" (''A Spoonful of Time'') – Nektar (2012)

== See also == * Symphony X

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== *[http://www.symphonyx.com Symphony X Official Website]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinnella, Michael}} Category:1969 births Category:American heavy metal keyboardists Category:Symphony X members Category:Living people Category:People from Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey Category:21st-century American keyboardists Category:American people of Italian descent Category:20th-century American keyboardists