Alfred Dominic Ligammari II
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Challenge: Vision Impairment
Website: soundcloud.com/alimar
Right out of high school Alfred Dominic Ligammari II (also known as Alimar) started on his journey as a visual artist. Having devoted his wonder years as an aspiring artist, it was time to apply what he had learned. Attending college proved to be an enlightening experience. After two years in Fine Arts at Niagara County Community College, he transferred to SUNY at Buffalo with a full scholarship in Creative & Performing Arts. Shortly thereafter Al began pursuing his career as a freelance visual artist. He also worked as a sound and lighting engineer for local rock bands in the nightclubs around Western New York.
He began freelancing for bands and local businesses, creating logos, branding and ad campaigns for print. Photography became a large part of his life over the next few years. From press and concert photographer, to wedding and portrait photographer, he covered the gamut. With a background in advertising art he attained such clients as Calato Manufacturing (Regal Tip Drumsticks), Ryan Beverages, Thanos Institute, George Edwards Jewelers, Fiddler Roofing, Ciao!, Doktor Hair, to name a few.
For 15 years he was the art director at Niagara County Community College, designing the marketing materials for the college. He also taught courses in logo design and airbrush techniques.
In 1985, with the advent the digital domain of desktop publishing, he introduced the wizardry of Steve Job's genius, 'The Macintosh Computer', to a new generation of visual designers in a special program offered by NCCC.
By 2004, Al’s priorities shifted from the visual arts to the aural realm due to sudden vision impairment. He was diagnosed with end stage glaucoma after experiencing sudden diminished vision due to increased eye pressure. Seeing several specialists, it was determined that over 50% of his retinal nerves had deteriorated in a short period of time. After four years and a dozen surgical laser and invasive operations, surgeons were able to alleviate the damaging pressure to save his right eye, but not the left. Shortly after, he was declared legally blind.
Having come from not only a visually artistic family, but also a very musical one, he shifted gears in lieu of his vision impairment.
Over the next few years he collaborated with musicians from around the world through music social media websites (MacJams and iCompositions) — providing vocals, composing, arrangement, orchestration and instrumentation — along with recording and engineering to complete the process. Alimar has won several awards for his compositions. His music is featured on the Sounds Online website (makers of the East/West Quantum Leap Symphony Orchestra sound library) demonstrating the use of Steven Wilson's (of Porcupine Tree) ‘Ghost Writer’ sound samples in a song called ‘Synaesthesia’ . He was also awarded a spot in the ‘You Are Next’ campaign from Notion Music, which highlighted up-and-coming musicians, composers and orchestrators using the now Presonus offered scoring software.
In 2007, Alimar answered a website ‘call for musicians and orchestrators’ from singer Jon Anderson (of YES). The procedure was to submit a 60 second audio sample of work to Anderson's webmaster. Once presented, if he was so moved and enlightened, Jon would make contact. After spending a week deciding which sound sample to submit for review, Al sent his snippet at 3:00 am on a Sunday. By noon that same day, Jon called him on the phone to chat about the projects he was working on. Anderson provided several rough drafts for Alimar to orchestrate. And so it began. Since then they have met several times and became close friends — collaborating and sharing their ideas and philosophies, also contributing to each other’s musical processes behind the scenes. Jon was also gracious enough to serve as a reference for what was about to come.
In 2009, Mr. Ligammari was offered the opportunity to enroll in college again, funded as a vocational rehabilitation program by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services — Commission for the Blind, concentrating on music theory and composition. They also provided him with enhanced technologies including musical instruments, computers and accessibility software.
At the age of sixty, Alfred Dominic Ligammari II received a Music Degree in May of 2014.
To this day, with only 20% vision in his right eye, Al experiences two extraordinary phenomena. The first, known as the Charles Bonnet Syndrome which causes an overlap of real images with imaginary ones, as though there are two movies playing simultaneously on one screen; and secondly, phosphene induced hallucinations, which appear as random lightning flashes and psychedelic patterns.
On October 13, 2019, Al was inducted into the Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame. In addition to being recognized for his musical endeavors, he was honored for his contributions to the promotion of local area musicians and bands in the Western New York area as a photographer and visual designer.
Here are some YouTube links to Al's orchestral compositions (Audio Only):