Jodi DiPiazza

Jodi DiPiazza (born October 3, 2001) is an American musician, composer, vocalist, and autism advocate. She was diagnosed with autism sometime before her second birthday.[1] A musical prodigy, she has absolute pitch. She learned to play the piano at age 3, being able to hear a song and reproduce it.[2][3] She also plays other instruments (such as guitar, clarinet and drums)[2] and performs in a number of genres.

Performing career

In 2012, DiPiazza appeared at Comedy Central's Night of Too Many Stars, an annual fundraiser for autism programs, at New York City's Beacon Theater.[4] This event included DiPiazza's duet performance of "Firework" with Katy Perry.[5][6]

In October 2012 DiPiazza was a guest on Good Morning America, where she performed "Tomorrow" from Annie.[7][8] In April 2013, DiPiazza performed on Fox News Health watch with Dr. Manny.[9] She also performed a duet with Moira Kelly at the Montclair State University.[10][11] She performed "For Good" from Wicked at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey.[12] In October, she appeared at the Genius of Autism benefit at the Hudson Theatre with Matt Savage in New York City hosted by Adam Richman.[13]

In 2013 DiPiazza appeared on El Tiempo (Colombian broadcast TV) in an interview with Wilson Vega and performed "The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry.[14] In April 2013, she appeared on the Fox News Street talk television program with Antwan Lewis. She performed "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from the Disney film Cinderella.[15]

On April 2, 2014 DiPiazza was selected to record at the Converse rubber tracks studio for autism awareness with the Indie rock group Meridian.[16] In May, 2014 she performed a duet of "On the Street Where You Live" with Laura Benanti.[11] In September 2014, she performed at The Cutting Room, with Jon Batiste: A Benefit for The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine.[17] DiPiazza's life story was discussed in the preface of the book In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan and Caren Zucker.[18][19]

In February 2015, DiPiazza returned to the Night of Too Many Stars fundraiser and collaborated with "Weird Al" Yankovic on his parody, "Yoda".[20][21] In April 2016, she sang the National anthem on autism awareness night at the New York Red Bulls soccer match.[22] In May, she performed a duet with Stephanie J. Block at the Montclair State University.[23]

On November 18, 2017, DiPiazza once again performed on the Night of Too Many Stars, where she performed Rise Up with Tony award winner Cynthia Erivo and The Roots.

On June 25, 2018 DiPiazza made her Broadway debut in the show "Arts for Autism" at the Gershwin Theatre, where she sang "The Girl i Mean to Be" from The Secret Garden as well as a duet of Corner of the Sky from Pippen with Tony award nominee Max von Essen and a children's choir of 200.[24]

Advocacy

In 2010, DiPiazza wrote and performed a composition called "Heroes of Autism" for Toys "R" Us to be used in conjunction with a fundraiser for Autism Speaks. This campaign raised over $3,000,000.[25] In 2013, DiPiazza was one of the speakers at the National Autism Conference held at Penn State University where she joined Bridget Taylor of the Alpine Learning Group.[26] In October 2013, she received the Building Futures Award from Children's Aid And Family services for her autism advocacy.[27] DiPiazza has also performed at the ReelAbilities film festival which focuses on films of people with special needs.[28]

In June 2014, DiPiazza performed a concert at the Special Olympics National games in Ewing. She was also the featured guest in Newtown Connecticut at Families United in Newtown (F.U.N.) benefit concert May 19, 2016.[29] She was a host with Pat Battle and Steve Weatherford at the Autism Speaks walk in Metlife Stadium.[30] In April 2017 DiPiazza appeared at a benefit for Autism NJ at Montclair State University and performed a duet with Marin Mazzie of "I Whistle a Happy Tune" from the King and I.[31]

gollark: Imagine consuming drugs such as caffeine.
gollark: ?urban apioform
gollark: How? The end is quite pleasant. Nice sky. I've lived there a few times.
gollark: However, this would not learning.
gollark: It's quite big, lots of storage needed.

References
  1. News, ABC. "Autistic Girl, Jodi DiPiazza, Performs with Katy Perry". ABC News. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  2. YORIO, KARA. "Music helped Rochelle Park girl transcend autism to become music star". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  3. Yorio, Kara. "Bringing Jodi Back" (PDF). North Jersey Media.
  4. Goodman, Jessica (2015-03-09). "Weird Al And Autistic Children's Choir Perform 'Yoda' At 'Night Of Too Many Stars'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  5. "Jodi DiPiazza: Girl With Autism Duets With Katy Perry On 'Firework' At Night Of Too Many Stars Autism Benefit". Huffington Post. 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  6. "Katy Perry and Girl With Autism Bring Down the House With 'Firework' Duet". Mashable. October 19, 2012.
  7. Yorio, Kara (2012-10-28). "Music helped Rochelle Park girl transcend autism to become music star". The Record. Bergen County, New Jersey: Gannett Company. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  8. "Katy Perry's Autistic Fan Performs Heartwrenching Annie Song 'Tomorrow'". Radar.com. October 19, 2012.
  9. Alvarez, Manny. "Changing the tune of autism". Foxnews.com.
  10. "'Jersey Girls' Benefit Concert to Raise Money for Autism New Jersey | NJTV News". NJTV News. 2014-04-30. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  11. "Tony Award Winner Headlines Benefit for Autism - Montclair State University". Montclair.edu. 2014-05-01. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  12. "Jodi DiPiazza and "100 Years of Broadway" at BergenPAC on Saturday - Music - NorthJersey.com". Archive.northjersey.com. 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  13. "Genius of autism awards". SheKnows. 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  14. "Tiempo Real, entrevistas cámara a cámara". Video. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  15. "EPIC's Dr. Paul Argott on Fox News - EPIC School | Paramus, New Jersey". EPIC School | Paramus, New Jersey. 2013-06-11. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  16. "Musical Collaborators Light It Up Blue at Converse Rubber Tracks". Autism Speaks. 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  17. "Jon Batiste: A Benefit for The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine - Tickets - The Cutting Room - New York, NY - September 22nd, 2014". The Cutting Room. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  18. YORIO, KARA. "Tenafly journalist Caren Zucker co-writes history of autism book". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  19. Donvan, John; Zucker, Caren (2017-01-17). In a Different Key: The Story of Autism. Crown/Archetype. ISBN 9780307985705.
  20. Waxman, Olivia B. (2015-03-09). "Watch Weird Al's Touching Performance With Singers Who Have Autism". Time. New York: Time Inc. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  21. Daley, Megan (March 9, 2015). "Watch 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Jodi DiPiazza Perform 'Yoda' at Night of Too Many Stars". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  22. "NY Red Bulls host Autism Awareness Night; pledge in April and win". Autism speaks.
  23. "PRSSA Chapter News: Broadway star Stephanie J. Block headlines autism awareness fundraiser at Montclair State University". prssa.prsa.org. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  24. Desk, BWW News. "Broadway Comes Together At The Gershwin To Benefit Autism Speaks". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  25. Lewis, Randy (2015-03-09). "Weird Al Yankovic, young people with autism sing 'Yoda' on telethon". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  26. "Conference Archive 2013 | National Autism Conference". Autism.outreach.psu.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  27. "October 2013 | Children's Aid and Family Services". Cafsnj.org. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  28. "JCC film festival highlights special needs". Jewish Standard. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  29. "FUN Concert Brings Families Together". Newtownbee.com. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  30. "Bubble-blowing event raises autism awareness | Vernon NJ | Local News". www.advertisernewsnorth.com. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  31. Desk, BWW News. "Marin Mazzie to Headline 2017 Montclair State PRSSA Concert to Benefit Autism New Jersey". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
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