Annie Philippone and Friends

Playing piano has been Ann's Philippone passion for as long as she can remember.  Even in kindergarten, when they went around the room asking what they wanted to be when we grew up, she blurted out, "I'm a piano player".  She's  been playing since age 16.   

Philippone had "traditional" piano lessons as a kid, and went the classical route early on.  Then it was off to school at Syracuse University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Piano and Art History in 1987.  Philippone studied and performed overseas at L'Ecole Hindemith in Switzerland in the summers of 1984 and '85. Accompanying the 1987 Syracuse University Singers on harpsichord with a string quartet was memorable.  

She graduated from the University At Buffalo with a Master of Arts in Music and Art History in 1996, and found Buffalo to be a great place to live, with a thriving music scene and no shortage of great musicians to play with.  Philippone met John Brady, a great musician and songwriter, who encouraged and helped her along. She started playing with some local bands.  

She loved having the musical freedom craved for so long. Not long after finishing grad school, she was hired by Joe Beard, and spent the next 10 years playing in his band. Philippone's first real exposure to live blues music had been sneaking into clubs in Rochester, New York, as a kid and hearing him play. Beard was the legendary Son House's next-door-neighbor on Greig Street in Rochester, New York, and used to play with him and a young John Mooney on his porch.  Phillipone learned everything she knows about playing blues piano from Beard, grateful for the opportunity to play with him, and still goes to see him whenever she can.