Al Pitrelli has been Savatage's guitarist since 1995 and is one of the figures who have circulated most among the central bands of American metal and hard rock. Born in New York in 1962, he joined the group in the period following Criss Oliva's death, when the band was rebuilding its instrumental identity. His earlier résumé is extensive: he passed through Alice Cooper's band, Asia and Widowmaker, and between 1999 and 2002 he was Megadeth's guitarist, recording The World Needs a Hero (2001). It is the path of a player called upon to deliver precision and quick reading in musical contexts very different from one another. His most lasting contribution, however, lies outside Savatage — and at the same time within it. Pitrelli is musical director of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the symphonic rock project created by Jon Oliva and Paul O'Neill that grew directly out of the band's rock-opera phase and became one of the largest touring attractions in the United States. In practice much of Savatage migrated there, and he is the one who musically directs that operation.
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