Tommy Valando

Thomas F. Valando (March 1, 1916 – February 14, 1995) was a
Broadway producer and owner of an important New York City music publishing company, Tommy Valando Publishing Group, Inc.

Tommy Valando played a pioneering role in the emergence of BMI songwriters on the Broadway scene. In the early 1950s, he was responsible for composer Jerry Bock getting onto Broadway with the score for "Catch a Star." In 1964, he introduced John Kander and Fred Ebb who became a prominent songwriting team.

Valando's company published the scores to such Broadway shows as:
* Fiorello! (1959)
* She Loves Me (1963)
* Fiddler on the Roof (1964)
* Cabaret (1966)
* Zorba (1968)
* Company (1970)
* Follies (1972)
* A Little Night Music (1973)
* Sweeney Todd (1979)
* Woman of the Year (1981)
* Sunday in the Park with George (1984)

Thoroughbred horse racing

Tommy Valando and his wife Elizabeth Jones Valando owned several good racehorses including the 1990 U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old colt Fly So Free who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Tommy and Elizabeth Valando were living in Greenwich, Connecticut at the time of his passing in 1995. She has continued their involvement in Thoroughbred racing and is the owner of Nobiz Like Shobiz who is rated as a top contender for the 2007 U.S. Triple Crown series of races.

References

* [http://www.bmi.com/library/brochures/historybook/stage.asp Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) official website history article on Tommy Valando]
* [http://www.fredebbfoundation.org/fred-ebb.htm Fred Ebb Foundation]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=23988 Tommy Valando at the Internet Broadway Database]