Livio Leonardelli was born May 2, in Spormaggiore, in the Province of Trento, Italy. In 1954, he emigrated from Italy to Canada with his family. A letter of recommendation from Monsignor Scalvini was instrumental in Livio receiving acceptance to St. Michael’s College School. His interest in music began at St. Mike’s, where he immediately joined the band and played the trumpet under the direction of Mr. John Guerriere (who later became his lifelong friend and mentor). Livio was promoted to first trumpet after completing his first year with the band.

After graduating from St. Michael’s College, he was accepted at Ryerson in the Business Administration Program, but decided, after completing his RCM exams, to forego the business program and focus entirely on his studies in music. In 1967, upon completing his degree at the Ontario College of Education, Livio was offered a teaching position with the Toronto Board of Education. After a ten-year stay as Head of the Music Department at Lakeview Secondary School, he decided to transfer to the Metropolitan Separate School Board and began teaching at Chaminade College School. During this time he obtained his Music Specialist degree and was offered the headship of the Arts Department.

While teaching at Chaminade he entered his bands in a variety of competitions, most notably the Kiwanis Music Festival. Receiving high accolades and many gold awards, Livio quickly became known as Maestro Leonardelli, a title he wears proudly today. With an incredible amount of work and passion, Maestro Leonardelli organized trips for his bands to many cities across the United States. Their success in the States drove the Maestro to go farther, taking his bands across the ocean to Europe on concert tours a total of six times, including Italy where they toured under the name of “Youth in Concert Symphonic Band”.

Livio retired from teaching in January 2001. However, eight months later, Livio accepted an opportunity to start a music program at Villanova College, where once again he led the Villanova Concert Bands to achieve gold at a variety of competitions. He planned a European trip for his students and brought back with them numerous accolades and awards. Finally, in 2009 Maestro Leonardelli “retired”. In the fall of 2010, he accepted a request from Mr. Anthony Fusco Sr. to form and conduct the Columbus Concert Band. This was an offer too illustrious to refuse, allowing Livio to keep his passion for music ignited.