Recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant in 1996 and winner of many other esteemed awards. He has worked as an educator, teaching workshops around the United States.
He became active in the New York music scene when he was twenty-three years old. He started playing with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra in 1994.
He has acted as the Music Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at New York University.
He is a native of Southboro, Massachusetts.
Pietro's album Standard Wonder: The Music of Stevie Wonder was considered in the top ten best jazz albums released in 2001.