including "With a Smile and a Song", "Whistle While You Work", and "Now It Can Be Told". At the young age of only 23 in 1938, Serry was already collaborating on stage with several noted accordionists of the early 20th century including: Andy Arcari, Anthony Mecca, Domenic Mecca, Pietro Deiro and Joe Biviano. The six accordionists joined forces at the north ballroom of the legendary Stevens Hotel in Chicago for an "Accordion Jamfest" before an audience of over 1000 concertgoers in September of 1938. The concert occurred soon after Andy Arcari's noted accordion recital at Philadelphia's Academy of Music in May of 1938, where critics praise him for his brilliance. In a few short months both Biviano and the Mecca brothers would appear with Charles Magnante, Gene Von Hallberg and Abe Goldman to introduce the accordion in recital for the first time to an audience of classical music concertgoers in Carnegie Hall (April, 1939). The 1940s: The golden age of radio Serry married Julia Trafficante in the 1940s and moved to Nassau County, New York on Long Island to raise a family of four children which included John Serry Jr. He simultaneously undertook private studies with: Joscha Zade in piano (1945–1946); Arthur Guttow, an organist at the Radio City Music Hall (1946); and Robert Strassburg in Orchestration and Advanced Harmony (1948–1950). He specialized in the works of Gershwin, Debussy, and Ravel. Building upon his concert experiences of the 1930s, Serry entered the golden age of radio performing on the CBS radio network and assisted several concert artists in New York City including the French diseuse Marianne Oswald (aka Marianne Lorraine) in her English speaking debut of "One Woman Theatre" performing the poem Mr. Lincoln and His Gloves (by Carl Sandburg), Never Before (by Archibald MacLeish) and poems by Jean Cocteau and Jacques Prevert at Town Hall (1942). The concert was hosted by the Free World Association and presented with the patronage of Eleanor Roosevelt . This performance was praised in The Players Magazine - National Journal of Educational Dramatics as a "fresh experience and intriguing in its uniqueness." The New York Times described it as being skillfully presented. For ten years Serry performed as an original member of Alfredo Antonini's CBS Pan American Orchestra (1940–1949) on the Viva América program for the Department of State's Office of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) in support of its cultural diplomacy initiatives. He also worked