Gianluca Trombetta

Keyboardist, composer and keyboard tech. / Dream Theater / Shwizz

Gianluca Trombetta was born into a very musical family. His dad was an established accordion player and singer/songwriter, and his mom was a singer in many church groups throughout New York. Many of Gianluca's family members were in bands and have done studio work throughout their own careers. At age 4, Gianluca's parents noticed that he had a love for the piano and almost immediately started to teach him the basics all by ear. When Gianluca entered elementary school, he decided to play clarinet in the school band. When he entered high school, he started to get involved with many theater productions and soon after became part of the pit orchestra. High school was a very important time in Gianluca’s life. He experimented with many different styles of music including jazz, rock, and contemporary piano solo works.

In 1998, a friend told him to listen to an album called "Scenes from a Memory" by Dream Theater. That was the album that changed his life forever. Being a piano player, Gianluca was heavily influenced by Jordan Rudess (Keyboard player in Dream Theater) and started to learn as many keyboard parts as he could in his basement. At the same time one of his uncles started to introduce him to ELP, Yes, Rush and Styx. During junior year of high school, while everyone was trying to figure out what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives, he sat down, wondered what was his calling and then said to himself, "Music is my life and soul, it is in my blood and without it, I am nothing." While still attended high school, The U.S Marine Corps awarded Gianluca with the Semper Fidelis Award for musical excellence and achievement. Within that same year, he was voted "Most Musical" in his school. That was the moment when he realized that the answer was right in front of him his whole life.

In 2002, he began his college studies at Five Towns College, majoring in Jazz/Commercial Music with a concentration in Audio Production. While in college, Gianluca interned for a production agency based in New York City. On one production, he ended up working alongside his musical mentor and idol, Jordan Rudess. He has assisted on a number of productions at Carnegie Hall, Roseland Ballroom, B.B Kings Blue’s Club featuring the likes of Les Paul, Keith Emerson, Larry Carlton & Firewire, Jack Bruce, Ron Carter, Victor Wooten,Richie Sambora, and Peter Frampton In May of 2006, Gianluca graduated from Five Towns College with a Bachelors Degree in Music. Upon graduating college, Gianluca was hired by Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) as his studio assistant. It was there that he learned how to work and survive in the music business. Not only did Jordan teach him about music, but also mentored him in the business. It was in June of 2010 that changed Gianluca’s life forever. Jordan Rudess was looking for a keyboard tech for the upcoming Iron Maiden tour that Dream Theater was scheduled to be the opening act and asked Gianluca if he wanted to be his keyboard tech. It was a dream come true for him because not only was this an opportunity of a lifetime, but he would get a chance to work alongside his mentor. Following the release of Dream Theater’s next album, A Dramatic Turn of Events, Gianluca was officially asked by Mr. Rudess to be his keyboard tech for the upcoming Dream Theater tour. Seeing the world has humbled Gianluca and has showed him how precious life really is. To keep his passion of playing keyboards alive while not touring, Gianluca joined a prog/fusion/jam band called Shwizz based our of Nyack, NY. ShwizZ released a double-cd album entitled “My Good Side / My Bad Side,” while being a co-writer on many of the songs, Gianluca was extremely proud of being a part of. It was the first time in his career that he was involved in the production and performance on an album. For the future, Gianluca looks to continue working in the music business and continue to follow his true passion in life; Making a difference though music and sound.   www.facebook.com/gianlucatrombettaNY