Rich Marsella, known as Friendly Rich, is a composer and avant-garde musician from Brampton, Canada. His music is incredibly eclectic and has been featured on everything from CBC Radio and MuchMusic to three seasons of MTV’s The Tom Green Show. Since 1994, Marsella has recorded a great deal of material exclusively for his own distinguished record label, The Pumpkin Pie Corporation. Marsella has a Masters degree in music from the University of Toronto, which he completed under the supervision of Dr. Lee Bartel and composer R. Murray Schafer. His main area of focus included instrument construction as well as parade pedagogy. In addition to producing and composing 9 full-length albums to date, Friendly Rich Marsella is also the Founder and Director of the Brampton Indie Arts Festival, an annual event that promotes emerging artists including musicians, poets, and visual artists, held every year since 2000. Marsella and his live ensemble, The Lollipop People, signed a deal with German record label, Hazelwood Records, to release two albums in Europe, which they have since toured three times, releasing three records there to date. Currently Marsella is the Director of the Regent Park School of Music, providing a valuable musical outlet to youth-in-need.