William Vacchiano

William Vacchiano (May 23, 1912—September 19, 2005) was an American trumpeter and trumpet instructor. He was the principal trumpeter of the New York Philharmonic from 1935 to 1973 and a trumpet teacher at the Juilliard School, New York from 1935 to 2002. In his career, he produced hundreds of orchestral recordings, published several method books, and taught many private students.

William Vacchiano was born William Anthony Vacchiano on May 23, 1912, in Portland, Maine, the seventh of eight children to Rafaello and Anna Vacchiano. His parents immigrated to the United States from their hometown of Cicciano, Italy. When they arrived at Ellis Island in New York, they were greeted by Rafaello's two brothers, Megucia and Pasquale. They initially settled in Brooklyn (on Atlantic Avenue), where Vacchiano's father worked as a grocer, though he was trained as a metal worker after serving as a member of the King's Guard. Around 1909, the Vacchiano family relocated to Portland, Maine, where many of their friends from Italy were living.

Vacchiano showed an early interest in music. His father noticed it and took him to the Portland City Hall auditorium. The first live performance he heard was Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata". When he was twelve, he began taking cornet lessons from Frank Knapp, a music teacher in Portland who was a solo cornetist in Alessandro Liberati's band in New York. Vacchiano excelled in cornet and Knapp appointed him to third trumpet in the Portland Municipal Orchestra (now the Portland Symphony Orchestra). Vacchiano was 14 at the time. He also studied piano in parallel to his cornet education with Knapp.

In the summers, Vacchiano spent about four weeks at Camp Devens in Massachusetts where he played with the 240th Artillery Coast Guard Band and the Lewiston Artillery Band.

Vacchiano also continued to play solos every Friday at his Portland High School. While a high school student, he commuted to Boston for lessons with French-born musician Georges Mager who was the principal trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1919 until his death in 1950. Around that time, Vacchiano also took intermittent lessons with Louis Kloepfel (principal trumpet with the New York Symphony Society from 1891 to 1898) and Walter M. Smith (former cornetist with the John Philip Sousa Band and also solo Cornet with the U.S. Marine Band) in Boston. He also studied with cornetist Gustav Heim, who had served as principal trumpet of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Society of New York, and Cleveland Orchestra.

In 1930, Vacchiano went to New York and applied for a two-year business course at Saint John's University in Brooklyn, New York, to obtain a Certified Public Accountant license in order to maintain a stable income. His application, however, was rejected. While in New York, he visited Times Square, where he ran into an old friend, Oscar Jones, who was studying trumpet from the trumpet virtuoso Max Schlossberg. Upon his friend's recommendation, Vacchiano also decided to take trumpet lessons from Schlossberg at the Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard School). The lessons were conducted at Schlossberg's apartment in The Bronx, New York.

Vacchiano studied with Schlossberg for 5 years (1930-1935). Schlossberg heavily influenced Vacchiano's style and interpretation of orchestral playing.

In 1935, Vacchiano was appointed to teach at Juilliard School. In 1942, he was appointed Principal Trumpet at Juilliard by Bruno Walter. He taught at Juilliard until 2002. He played in many orchestras in New York City and had the opportunity to tour with French-born flutist Georges Barrère Symphony and play principal trumpet at the Chautauqua Music Festival.

Also in 1935, Vacchiano joined the New York Philharmonic as third/assistant principal trumpet. He was with the New York Philharmonic until 1973. While engaged at the New York Philharmonic, he performed under the baton of many legendary conductors like Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Leopold Stokowski, Leonard Bernstein, and George Szell.

While at the peak of his career, Vacchiano attended Manhattan School of Music, New York, and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in trumpet performance.

After retiring from the New York Philharmonic in 1973, Vacchiano focused his time on teaching. He taught at the Mannes College of Music, New York, from 1937 to 1983; the Manhattan School of Music from 1937 to 1999; Queens College from 1970 to 1973, and from 1991 to 1994; and Columbia Teacher's College (exact dates unknown). He also did private teaching from his home in Flushing, Queens, New York, from 1935 to 2005.

Among Vacchiano's notable students are Wynton Marsalis, Philip Smith, Charles Schlueter, Richard Giangiulio, Gerard Schwarz, Manny Laureano, Miles Davis, Thomas Stevens, and Malcolm McNab.

• Etudes for Trumpet: Orchestra Etudes and Last Etudes Paperback (July 1, 1985)
• Vacchiano The Art of Double Tonguing Trumpet Solo (January 1, 1998)
• Necessary technique for B♭ trumpet
• Advanced Etudes for Trumpet, for Ear Training and Accuracy. Montrose, California: Balquhidder Music, 2004
• Bugle Calls. Denver: Tromba Publications, 1998
• The Art of Bel Canto (singing style) for Trumpet. Portland, Maine: Manduca Music, 1999
• The Art of Solo Playing for Trumpet. Denver: Tromba Publications, 1998
• The Art of Triple Tonguing. New York: C. F. Peters, 1998
• Comprehensive Trumpet Studies. New York: Vacch Press, 2004
• Trumpet, As Taught at The Juilliard School. Denver: Tromba Publications
• Improvisations Based on Nursery Rhythms and The Marine's Hymn for Trumpet or Cornet. Portland, Maine: Manduca Music, 1998
• Miniature Variations on "The Carnival of Venice" for Piccolo or E-flat Trumpet. New York: C. F. Peters, 1999
• Miniature Variations on "The Carnival of Venice" for Solo Trumpet. New York: C. F. Peters, 1996
• Moving Transposition. New York: C. F. Peters, 2005
• Necessary Technique for B-flat Trumpet. Portland, Maine: Manduca Music, 1998
• Orchestral Rhythms for B-flat Trumpet. Montrose, California: Balquhidder Music, 1997

Vacchiano was married to Ethel Josephine LaParde. The two met while studying at the Institute of Musical Art at Juilliard School. Josephine, originally from Virginia, came to Juilliard School to continue her studies as a piano major and a clarinet minor.

They had two children, Ralph (born 1939) and Joanne (born 1944).

The International Trumpet Guild Journal (ITGJ) and the New York Brass Conference for Scholarships Journal (NYBCSJ) have published numerous articles in acknowledgment of Vacchiano's career as a performer and teacher.

• 1978: Award of recognition from NYBCSJ on January 22, 1978
• 1984: Honorary Award from ITGJ on June 5, 1984
• 2003: Honorary Doctorate from Juilliard on his ninety-first birthday on May 23, 2003

Vacchiano passed away due to respiratory failure on September 19, 2005, in Manhattan, New York. He was 93. His obituary in The New York Times quoted him saying:

This, to me, is happiness. When I feel bad I go down to the studio in my house, I pick up my horn and I'm in seventh heaven. That's what music should be like.