Christopher Spinosa Memorial Scholarship

From a very early age, Chris was a musician. He was blessed with perfect pitch and learned to play the accordion performing at many local Italian functions in the heavily populated Union City, New Jersey. Along with his younger brother, Ralph, they formed a 20 piece “big band,” for which he was the conductor and wrote many original arrangements. He also started a youth band which performed at charity functions.
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As a young adult, Chris established his own musical instrument store and was a music instructor. After leaving the retail business he started his own record label, Vesuvius Records. During the late 50’s and early 60’s he hosted a weekly Italian radio show.
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Chris subsequently moved into executive sales in the music industry. He became Vice President of sales for Musicor Records where he worked with artists such as Gene Pitney, The Platters, George Jones, and many others. He assisted Pitney in learning Italian for an Italian language album which, when released, won an award at the San Remo Music Festival (Italy’s version of the Grammy’s). He was also instrumental in producing the song “Popcorn,” the first song to utilize a synthesizer. The song achieved prominence by rising to number one on the pop charts in the late 1960’s.
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Following his many years with Musicor, Chris was National Sales Manager for Peter’s International and then for CBS/Sony International Records. He finally launched out on his own and formed a worldwide record distribution company known as One World Records.
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During his 43 years as a veteran executive in the music industry, Chris never forgot his roots or his love of singing and playing the accordion. He continued to conduct and perform in his orchestra. Chris always returned to his original love….music and entertainment.
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In 1998, the love for performing which Chris imparted to all those who knew him was rekindled in his daughter, Rita Moreno, when she fist appeared onstage at the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse.
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Now the family of Christopher Spinosa continue to keep his love for the performing arts alive by serving and encouraging students to pursue their higher education and fulfill their dreams for the future.
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The endowed Christopher Spinosa Memorial Scholarship is available to both new and returning students enrolled at Eastern Florida State College, who are pursuing a career in the performing arts.