William Vacchiano | Vacchiano's Influence

There was hardly a working day when I didn't think about him and something he taught me.

Thomas Stevens

Vacchiano’s teaching career spanned seven decades as an instructor at The Juilliard School (1935–2002), Manhattan School of Music (1937–1999), Mannes College of Music (1937–1983), Queens College (1970–1973, 1991–1994), North Carolina School of the Arts (1973–1976), and Columbia Teachers College. In addition to his tenure at these renowned music schools, he instructed many students at his home in Flushing, New York, from 1935 to 2005. Vacchiano estimated he privately taught over 2,000 students during his entire career.

The following is a partial list of former students who studied with Vacchiano and the positions they hold or held.

New York Philharmonic
Morris Boltuch – former third/assistant principal trumpet
Carmine Fornarotto – former second trumpet
Philip Smith – former principal
James Smith – former fourth trumpet
John Ware – former co-principal

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Joseph Alessi, Sr. – former second trumpet
Melvin Broiles – former principal
Frank Hosticka – associate musician
David Krauss – current principal
James Pandolfi – former third trumpet

Mark Gould, Gerard Schwarz, Vacchiano, and Fred Mills at Vacchiano’s 90th birthday party at Juilliard.
©2002 Peter Schaaf

Armando Ghitalla, Vacchiano, and
Frank Kaderabek

Other Orchestras
Stephen Chenette – Minnesota Orchestra, former principal
Philip Collins – Cincinnati Symphony, former principal
Armando Ghitalla – Boston Symphony Orchestra, former principal
Richard Giangiulio – Dallas Symphony Orchestra, former principal
Chandler Goetting – Bavarian Radio Orchestra, former principal
Donald Green – Los Angeles Philharmonic, former principal
Merrimon Hipps – Minnesota Orchestra, former fourth trumpet
David Kuehn – Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, former principal
Manuel Laureano – Minnesota Orchestra, current principal
Douglas Lindsay – Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, associate principal
Adel Sanchez – National Symphony Orchestra, former assistant principal
Charles Schlueter – Boston Symphony Orchestra, former principal
Thomas Stevens – Los Angeles Philharmonic, former principal

Conductors
Albert Ligotti – Athens (GA) Symphony
Gerard Schwarz – Music Director, Eastern Music Festival
Gene Young – Peabody Institute

New York City Ballet
Ronald Anderson – former principal
Neil Balm – current co-principal
Robert Haley – former co-principal
Theodore Weis – NYC Ballet and Opera, former principal

Studio/Freelance
Neil Balm – New York City
Robert Karon – Los Angeles
Malcolm McNab – Los Angeles
Alan Rubin – New York City
Lee Soper – New York City

Chris Gekker, Mark Gould, William Vacchiano, Ray Mase, and Phil Smith
at Vacchiano’s 85th birthday party at The Juilliard School, May 1997.
©2002 Peter Schaaf

Jazz
Donald Byrd
Miles Davis
Mercer Ellington
Jonah Jones
Wynton Marsalis
Joseph Wilder

Soloists/Chamber Artists
Stephen Burns – soloist and Artistic Director of Fulcrum Point
Frederick Mills – formerly with Canadian Brass and University of Georgia
Ronald Romm – formerly with Canadian Brass, currently at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Professors
David Baldwin – University of Minnesota
Edward Carroll – McGill University
Mario Guarneri – formerly with Los Angeles Philharmonic, currently at San Francisco Conservatory
Douglas Hedwig – Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music
James Olcott – Miami University of Ohio, retired
Louis Ranger – University of Victoria, BC
Jeffrey Silberschlag – St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Honors/Awards/Accomplishments
• Honorary Doctorate from The Juilliard School (2003)
• In order to show his students how important it was to have advanced degrees, he went back to school to finish his bachelor’s degree (1952) and earned a master’s degree (1953) in trumpet, both from the Manhattan School of Music
• International Trumpet Guild – Highest Award of Merit – June 1984
• New York Brass Conference for Scholarships Recognition – January 1978
• Given Faculty Emeritus status at The Juilliard School (1998)
• Only trumpet player ever to win an audition for Met and NYP in the same day (1934)
• At the time of his retirement in 1973, he was the longest continuous principal trumpet player in America (31 years)
• 73 years as a member of the Local 802 Music Union (1932–2005)
• 67 years on the faculty at The Juilliard School (1935–2002)
• 62 years on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music (1937–1999)
• 46 years on the faculty at the Mannes College of Music (1937–1983)
• Première recording of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5—Bruno Walter conducting the New York Philharmonic
• Recorded Stravinsky’s Petrouchka twice in one day; in the morning with NYP and Mitropoulos and in the evening with a free-lance group with Stokowski
• Recorded Nielsen’s Symphony No. 5 and Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings in the same day with Bernstein
• Co-inventor of the Alessi-Vacchiano straight mute
• From 1973 until 2014, every principal or co-principal was a Vacchiano student (John Ware, Gerard Schwarz, Louis Ranger, Philip Smith)