Tom Di Nardo, former Inquirer and Daily News music writer, and longtime Peco electrical engineer, has died at 89
Over 43 years, he wrote thousands of features, profiles, reviews, and news stories about classical music, opera, jazz, and other topics.
Even as a young man, Tom Di Nardo was eclectic.
Born in South Philadelphia and reared in Germantown, he was naturally adept at math and physics. He was good at analyzing and solving problems about structure and distribution.
He also loved music and was obviously an insightful writer. Even his teachers at Germantown Friends School encouraged him to write more.
So, after graduating from high school, he did both.
Mr. Di Nardo earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Tufts University in Massachusetts and spent 36 years, from 1960 to 1996, designing high voltage outdoor wiring systems for Peco. And when storms ravaged the wires and poles, and the system went down, he worked in his office, sometimes for 24 hours straight, until the lights went back on.
“He clearly considered that work as a means of service to the community,” his son, Marc, said.
In 1974, now a music-loving single father of two and seeking more income, Mr. Di Nardo snapped up a night job as a freelance classical music critic for the Bulletin. He wrote reviews, mostly positive he conceded later, until the Bulletin closed in 1982. Then he switched to the Daily News and The Inquirer and filed stories until 2017.
At the Daily News and Inquirer, Mr. Di Nardo was prolific. He wrote more than 1,000 features and news stories about classical music, opera, jazz, and other topics. He enjoyed researching the musicians, conductors, and singers, and did lengthy interviews for in-depth profiles.
He was friends with conductors Riccardo Muti and JoAnn Falletta, and he interviewed, among hundreds of others, singer Luciano Pavarotti, musician Yo-Yo Ma, and composer David DiChiera.
» READ MORE: Two books - and a life's work - from Tom Di Nardo
“What I was concerned about the most,” Mr. Di Nardo said in a 2016 online interview, “was to find out the heart and soul of these people, not so much the nitty gritty. … I was so interested in the human part of this.”
On Saturday, Sept. 19, Mr. Di Nardo died of a brain hemorrhage while traveling and visiting family in Italy. He was 89.
“He was naturally curious,” his daughter, Lisa Di Nardo Parker, said. “He always wanted to connect and talk.”
Mr. Di Nardo also wrote books about music, including 2016’s Performers Tell Their Stories: 40 Years Inside the Arts and Listening to Musicians: 40 Years of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He also cowrote with percussionist Emil Richards and contributed many profiles to The Philadelphia Music Book: Sounds of a City in 2025.
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He championed local artists, especially composer Romeo Cascarino, and served as executive producer of Cascarino’s 1982 opera William Penn. He actively urged his readers to check out opera and classical music performances.
The Daily News headline for his story on April 29, 1994, was: “Try it, you’ll like it: Four chances to sample opera.” He said in the 2016 online interview: “Once they go once, that’s it. They’re hooked.”
In 1991, he wrote about a concert that linked music with nature. “Music has the power to inspire, amuse, and enlighten,” he said. “But it also has the ability to educate.”
In a 1991 Daily News story about doings at the old Opera Company of Philadelphia, he said: “In the precarious world of grand opera, you’ll often find more unexpected drama and sudden crises behind the scenes than on the stage.”
» READ MORE: By Tom Di Nardo: High-brow, low-budget: Classical concerts on the cheap
He also wrote about film, ballet, dance, and local music stores and venues. His children said they whiled away many weekend hours at the old Bulletin office while he wrote his stories.
In online tributes, former colleagues and friends called him “the very definition of modesty and selflessness” and “warm-hearted and generous with praise for the things he loved.” Retired Inquirer writer David Lee Preston called him a “pro’s pro both as a journalist and as a human being.”
Composer Kile Smith said on Facebook: “Tom knew everyone who came through Philadelphia who had anything to do with music: classical, jazz, pop.” Conductor Gary White said Mr. Di Nardo “worked tirelessly to bring together members of the arts and help create synergies that otherwise would never have occurred.”
Thomas Eugene Di Nardo was born Aug. 7, 1937. He played shortstop on the Germantown Friends School baseball team and later on the softball team for his favorite after-hours haunt, the Pen and Pencil Club.
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He married Diane Allen, and they had a son, Marc, and a daughter, Lisa. After a divorce, he met Margie Jones, and they traveled the world together, hosted memorable homemade pizza parties, and became longtime steadfast partners.
Mr. Di Nardo was interested in photography, history, and culture. He played piano, traveled to Italy often, valued education, and was a board member at Peace Day Philly.
He followed the Phillies closely and was at Veterans Stadium when they clinched the 1980 World Series. He took his children to many concerts and chatted up the ushers and ticket takers as well as the performers.
“He was affable, bright, and relational,” his daughter said. “He loved to share his passion.”
His son said: “He encouraged everyone and treated people with respect and dignity. He wanted to know what they do.”
In addition to his children, partner, and former wife, Mr. Di Nardo is survived by a sister, a grandson, and other relatives.
A memorial celebration is to be held later. Memories may be sent to tomdmemories@gmail.com.
Donations in his name may be made to the Film Music Society, 1516 S. Bundy Dr., Suite 305, Los Angeles, Calif. 90025; and Philadelphia Sinfonia, 1315 Walnut St., Suite 300, Philadelphia, Pa. 19105.
