Musician's Biographies
Getting to know...
Dick Fithian
Richard Fithian, born in Parker, PA, spent most his working days as a supervisor in a tool and die shop in the Pittsburgh suburb of
Dubois, PA.
He began his study of music in his youth by taking private instruction on piano and trumpet. Dick later traveled with a concert band
to the Chautauqua, NY region. While he free-lanced with other bands around Jamestown, NY, Dick developed an interest in New York
style Jazz in the manners of Nat Pierce, Stan Kenton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Al Cohen.
During a hitch with the Army Band in California, he played with sit-in vocalists like Marilym Monroe and Rosemary Clooney, and drummer
Mickey Rooney.
Later, Dick studied composition and theory at Dusquene University and studied trumpet with Matty Shriner. He free-lanced with various
bands in the Pittsburgh area for many years before retiring and moving to Beaufort in 1994.
He is a regular at the Dixieland Jam Sessions, plays with the Original Port Royal Sound Dixieland Jazz Band and other local artists
including Ben Tucker, Bob Alberti, Terry.Grant, Mary Louise Smallwood, and, of course, Cheryl.
He and his wife Alma have three children, two daughters in the health care field and a son in Texas in his own interior design business.