Playing the Clarinet at the PE Christmas Show led by Joe Zelle

Nick De Filippis, the manager of the mechanical engineering department at Perkin-Elmer in Danbury, Connecticut was a talented guy. In addition to being a fine engineer he was a good clarinet player. He played in the Perkin-Elmer band at the Christmas show for many years. The show was led by Joe Zelle who also worked at PE in Danbury. In his younger days Joe was a masterful trumpeter and band leader. He was also leader of the Casa Ritz Orchestra, the house band of the Ritz Ballroom in Bridgeport from 1947 until 1962. Joe also played for proms at many schools in Fairfield, County. Both Joe and Nick worked on the Hubble Space Telescope and the Hexagon satellite programs. The cast of the Christmas shows, as well as the many children of PE employees over a span of 25 years loved the band and the popular annual musicals that Joe produced and directed.