Michael Pinnella

• Name — Michael Pinnella • Landscape — yes • Birth Name — Michael Pinnella • Born — 29 August 1969 • Birthplace — Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, U.S. • Instrument — Keyboards, piano, backing vocals • Genre — Progressive metal, neoclassical metal, power metal • Occupation — Musician, songwriter • Years Active — 1994–present • Current Member Of — Symphony X

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. 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. 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). 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. Pinnella's nephew, Chris Pinnella, is a vocalist who worked with Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

• Illustration — Michael Pinnella with Symphony X at Gods of Metal 2007 Pinnella uses the following equipment: • Yamaha Motif ES7 • Roland V-Synth GT

• The Dark Chapter (1994)

• Enter by the Twelfth Gate (2004) • Ascension (2014)

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

• 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)