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3V's Piano Man plays on ...
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Wally Alesse of Setauket began playing the piano at age 3 and, 82 years later, has no plans to stop.
Alesse has a long résumé as a professional pianist: he has played with the Lester Lanin Orchestra, the Army Air Corps Band, the Guy Lombardo Orchestra and a 12-piece orchestra in New York City's Hotel Edison. "My professional career started when I was 14 years old," Alesse said, "and I never stopped."
Since moving to Long Island in 1955, the pianist has showcased his talents in various restaurants along the North Shore including Nocello's in Northport, the old Ramann's in East Setauket and the former Elk Street Grille in Port Jefferson. And now, more than 70 years since becoming a professional pianist, Alesse performs live every Wednesday in the WAVE Lounge at Danfords in Port Jefferson.
Alesse, who taught theory and music in the West Babylon School District for 25 years, said he plays "just about everything but rock" and a "very limited Billy Joel medley." The pianist, who also spent five years teaching theory and piano at Suffolk County Community College, said his music is an "expression of my emotions" that often resembles his mood by varying in tempo and volume.
According to Alesse, a graduate of the High School of Music & Art in New York City — one of only two high schools in the state that taught music at the time — he has about 3,000 songs and show tunes memorized, including music from "The Phantom of the Opera" which he played for this reporter Monday evening. After a passionate performance he described as "Wally Alesse feeling at the keyboard," he also played a medley of Joel's "Piano Man," "New York State of Mind" and "Just the Way You Are."
Performing on the piano "gives me the chance to express myself," Alesse said. "When I play, I play very emotionally."
To share his knowledge with the younger generation, the pianist opened a private studio in his home this fall. Alesse, who earned a bachelor's degree in piano and master's degrees in theory and education from the Manhattan School of Music, said he offers a method of teaching that "leads to invention." "Whatever they'd like to achieve, I will teach them," he said, adding that he hopes to "have somebody take my place when they grow up."
Alesse's wife Annabelle, a retired professional singer, said her husband is "one of the kindest men" she's ever known. "He's absolutely phenomenal," she said. "He's a wonderful husband. He is outstanding as a musician and a terrific composer."
Annabelle, 72, said she and her husband often perform together in their home or in local venues. They are performing in concert at the Sachem Public Library on Nov. 15 to dedicate a donated grand piano.
Annabelle, who has performed with the Canadian Opera Company and currently sings at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Setauket, said she and Wally have been married just five years. "It doesn't happen too often at our age that we meet like that," she said, adding that her husband is "everything you'd ever, ever want."
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