composers such as George Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, Rózsa, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and Sergei Prokofiev. In 1958, he was tied with Walter Gieseking in terms of best-selling classical records involving the piano. Pennario retired from active performance and recording in the 1990s. He wrote some pieces of his own, such as Midnight on the Cliffs, March of the Lunatics, and a 4-hand arrangement of Chopin's Minute Waltz. He was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in October 2007. As well as being well represented in music encyclopedias, he was a Life Master in tournament bridge, and is listed in The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, most notably winning an Open Pairs event in China in 1991. He was once part of a celebrity foursome with Don Adams, Les Brown and Jack Benny's daughter Joan Benny. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease on June 27, 2008 at the age of 83, in La Jolla, California. An authorized biography of Leonard Pennario is currently being written by Buffalo News music critic Mary Kunz Goldman. Sources see Leonard Pennario home page for additional information including complete discography References External links 1924 births 2008 deaths American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists American male composers American contract bridge players Grammy Award winners Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from Parkinson's disease Musicians from Buffalo, New York People from Los Angeles USC Thornton School of Music alumni 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American expatriates in India