I’m deeply saddened by the loss of Pompilio “Pompi” Rosciani early this week - he was my lovely friend and the mighty accordion guru to me and thousands of others since I first met him in 1980.
He was a master accordion maker, fixer, and tuner of all types of accordions. He kept the music flowing and going since starting as a young apprentice to the Sonola Accordion Company in his beloved Castelfidardo in Italy - the City of Accordions.
Pompi later joined his father Ernesto’s Harmony Accordion Company in the 1960s and was sent to New York City to help establish a market for their accordions.
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Fortunately for us, he moved to Chicago and started the Imperial Accordion Company and later purchased Star Concertina – now known as the Rosciani Imperial Accordion Company with his dear son Marco.
He was always at the forefront of accordion technology and was the first to import MIDI accordions in the 1980s which allowed acoustic accordions to interface with synthesized sounds — which I gladly added to the growing arsenal of accordions I had purchased from Pompi (much to the chagrin of some in the Irish Trad community) but it was a lot of fun to play!!
Pompi helped me custom design a couple of the accordions I have and we even talked about creating a line of piano boxes designed for Irish trad music.
All accordion stuff aside - it’s not what one does that really counts - it’s who one is that matters.
Pompi was a genuinely gentle and loving soul with a wide open personality perfectly matched by his gregarious smile and boundless laughter. I would often just stop by with a minor box tweak or repair which wasn’t urgent — just for the chance to spend a wee bit of time with him chatting and joking around. I’d be greeted with a big “Hey Jymmm!!” with his unbroken Italian accent coupled with a tiny bit of Chicagoese, a hearty shake from his craftsman's hands – he was always impeccably dressed with never even a smudge on his ever present eyeglasses or a hair out of place on his head.
He always knew what to do and what to say…
On Sunday night I had a mini box disaster while playing a gig - one of the anchor pins holding the reed blocks popped out and disappeared leaving the treble reeds floating around inside the accordion. No notes sounded (which I think a few too many folks enjoyed a little bit too much) - I quickly opened the box and duct taped the reed blocks back into place and somehow finished the gig.
All the while I was thinking Pompi would love to see this as he would be asking himself “what you do now, Jymmm??”
I planned on giving him a call to drop off the box this week. I had a very busy Monday and finally noticed a missed call from his son Marco along with a text message when I returned home…
I will miss Pompi dearly as all those who knew him.
My heart goes out to his darling wife Lori (always Mrs. Rosciani to me) along with his two sons Marco and Paul, their wives, and children. You are all blessed to have Pompi in your lives — as he was to be a proud loving husband, Dad, and grandfather to all of you.
My condolences to you and to Pompi’s extended family and many friends. Rest in peace dear Pompi - with love Jymmm 💚🪗❤️
Pompilio Rosciani (1941-2026)
Pompilio Rosciani, beloved husband of Lori Rosciani; loving father of Marco (Jennifer) Rosciani and Paul (Donna) Rosciani; cherished grandfather of Alyssa, Lucas, Faith, Hope and Joy; dear brother of Carlo Rosciani and Raole Rosciani; dearest uncle of many nieces and nephews.