acecloudkicker

Sadly, I just came across the news today. I had the honor to play alongside Mr. Vacchiano for several years while playing with the Queensborough CC Symphonic Orchestra. As a young trumpet player, I could not have had a better teacher. There are things that I've learned from that man that I carry with me until this day. I am certain that I will continue to use this knowledge in the years to come. Knowledge not only about playing the trumpet (his lessons in that respect were priceless), but also about life and how to carry yourself. He was always helping me work on my playing and never uttered a discouraging word. He was the perennial teacher. He made you strive and work harder. And always with that smile on his face and that twinkle in his eye. A sign of approval from him was all it took to keep to practicing for several more hours. Never a "holier than thou" attitude...he enjoyed joking around and being playful...it was his nauture. He will be missed, but never forgotten. Thank you, Mr. Vacchiano.
Neil

Manny Laureano

You folks have been truly wonderful...

Your tributes to Mr. V. have been warm and stunning, quite frankly. I anticipated his leaving us but not quite so soon even though some of knew he was sick. We were hoping he'd pull out of it as he has in the past.

I was on stage tonight thinking about him and many of you. So fitting that the MO would be playing a trumpeter's bane like Petrushka but you know, he was there tonight. His gentle hand, encouraging words... all there.

I was teaching a lesson today and I can't tell you the number of times I quoted him directly to my student. I was never more conscious of the things I was saying to a student than I was today, I think. Little things about accents, holding certain notes, weight on this note, less tongue, back away from the weak beat, transpose to A this way, bring out the low notes, get out the Arban bass clef book, where's the Sachse?, go easy on the vibrato, here, try this mouthpiece... and that was just one student.

Anyways, thanks for your kindness and respect for Mr. William Vacchiano who will be laid to rest tomorrow. I only hope that his influence is felt for a few more generations but I know that time moves as it will and new interests pull the next generations from the old ways. If, in these last couple of days, some of you have been inspired to listen to an old recording you have previously overlooked then good. All it takes is one more person to add to a chain.

G-d bless and thanks again

Manny Laureano

richtom

Manny,
It seems to me that you learned more from Mr. V. than just trumpet: He passed on to you his warmth and kindness.
His legacy will live on in you and your student's student's students.
I have the feeling that had the internet been around earlier, he would have moderated a forum just as you do.
Regards,
Rich Tomasek

dizforprez

from the new york times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/24/ar...=5070&emc=eta1

Kenzo

Manny,

Your feeling for Mr. Vacchiano is very touching. I too will miss him a great deal. I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to study with him. I too find myself repeating to my students, the same words Mr. Vacchiano said to me.

Leon,

Thank you for your words about Mr. Vacchiano as well.

Wishing you well.

brianshook

I would like to pause and take a moment to express my appreciation to Manny and all of you who have shared such heart-felt comments about Mr. Vacchiano. For the past two years I have had the distinct honor and pleasure of knowing Mr. Vacchiano in a unique way. I contacted him in the Spring of 2003 to ask if I could be his biographer. He agreed to this and was a significant help in acquiring boundless amounts of information regarding his life and career. Everyone I have contacted to do interviews with has generously given of their time, often responding with, “I would do anything for Mr. Vacchiano. Without him, I would not be where I am today.”

Mr. Vacchiano was a man of consummate character and musicianship. Joe Wilder put it this way: “Mr. Vacchiano brought to the music business a certain kind of dignity. He carried himself in a certain way; there was a real class about him which rubbed off on all of us. You not only wanted to play as well as he did, but you wanted to be like him as a person.” His genuine character and devotion to students was exemplified with the following comment: “One of the great thrills and rewards of my career is the number of Christmas cards I receive every year. I receive and mail out over a thousand every year. As soon as I receive a card I check it against my list to make sure he gets a card in return.”

To further illustrate this point, I will relate yet another true story. Mr. Vacchiano always encouraged all of his students to earn as many degrees as possible. To teach at a college and play in a local orchestra was the "ideal job." He was so insistent on this point that he actually went back to school to earn a Masters of Trumpet Performance at the Manhattan School of Music in 1955, after he had been teaching there for almost 20 years!

Mr. Vacchiano’s sensitivity to phrasing and musical nuance was absolutely breath-taking. In reference to a live performance of the Saint-Saëns Symphony in B-flat, Mike Hipps said, “I was sitting out in the audience and the musicality of his playing was so beautiful that it just brought tears to my eyes.” According to Frank Hosticka, “Mr. Vacchiano had a lot of colors in his sound, but he could really float a note out with no sense of power or energy – it would just be there. If you listen to those Mahler recordings with Bruno Walter, his solos are haunting and his interpretations are immaculately impeccable. The biggest hallmark of what he did was not teaching you how to play the trumpet, but teaching you how to play music.”

The influence of Mr. Vacchiano’s teaching and playing can literally be heard around the world. He will be forever remembered as the ultimate gentleman with an affable, caring, and inspirational spirit.

To honor Mr. Vacchiano, the March 2006 International Trumpet Guild Journal will have a significant article dedicated to Mr. Vacchiano. Please contact me if you have any information you would like me to include as I prepare this article, his biography, and other various publications.

Sincerely,

Brian Shook - brianshook@thebrassco.com

*For more information on Mr. Vacchiano’s life and influence, please go to the following link: http://www.trumpetguild.org/news/new...5vacchiano.htm

__________________
Brian Shook
brianshook@thebrassco.com

donna dee

hello manny,

like many others who have responded to this thread i do not know you.

my name is donna. i live in easton,pa. my mother is 92 and also lives with us.

my mother was born and raised in portland, maine. she saw mr vacchianos obit in our local paper. when she exclaimed "i know this man, and went to school with him!" i was certainly surprised so i came to the internet to see who he was and eventually found this forum. .

she then spent a good deal of the afternoon remembering those times and telling me about memories of him and his family in portland.

she remembers they owned a meat market on congress street and as well as she can remember my gandmother wouldnt buy meat any where else in portland. she says there were older brothers and can name some of them. she remember the whole family as being "wonderful".

it seems he was a class ahead of her in portland high school but she does remember that he was in ochestra and played the trumpet. i guess it was the family business she remembers best.

i thought you would be pleased to see this little tid bit added to your amazing tribute to this fine and incredible man. my mother is sharp for 92 and her memory is pretty good.

she expressed her sympathy and i am extending it here for you and all those who knew and will miss him.

btw, my former neighbor was bobby "lips" levine". you may have heard of him. he was a renowned sax player. mr vacchiano is in good company.

this is indeeed a small world and we are truly all connected.

sincerely, donna from easton pa

Hi

Hi
I'm new to this, and you don't know me. Larry does. but, I live in Queens and have great memories of Mr. Vacchiano when I came to New York in the 80s. I don't know exactly what to say but appreciated so much your tribute and feel for the loss.
Thank You

dizforprez

Here is a list from the link Brian provided: to say it is impressive would be an understatement!


http://www.trumpetguild.org/news/new...5vacchiano.htm


The Influence of Mr. William Vacchiano

A fact sheet compiled by Brian A. Shook

The following is a partial list of former students who studied with Mr. Vacchiano and what positions they hold/held. This list is not comprehensive – the estimated total number of students taught by Mr. Vacchiano exceeds 2,000.

New York Philharmonic

Morris Boltuch – former 4th trumpet
Carmine Fornarotto – former 2nd trumpet
Philip Smith – current principal
James Smith - former 4th trumpet
John Ware - former co-principal
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Joseph Alessi, Sr. – former principal
Mel Broiles – former principal
Frank Hosticka
David Krauss – current principal
James Pandolfi – former 3rd trumpet
Orchestra

Stephen Chenette – Minnesota Orchestra, former principal
Philip Collins – Cincinnati Symphony, current principal
Armando Ghitalla – Boston Symphony Orchestra, former principal
Richard Giangiulio – Dallas Symphony Orchestra, former principal
Chandler Goetting - Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, former principal
Don Green – Los Angeles Philharmonic, current principal
Mike Hipps – Minnesota Orchestra, retired
David Kuehn – Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, former principal
Manny Laureano –Minnesota Orchestra, current principal
Douglas Lindsay – Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, current associate principal
Adel Sanchez – National Symphony Orchestra, assistant principal
Charles Schlueter – Boston Symphony Orchestra, current principal
Thomas Stevens – Los Angeles Philharmonic, former principal
Conductors

Albert Ligotti – Athens Symphony
Gerard Schwarz – Music Director, Seattle Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Gene Young
NYC Ballet

Ronald Anderson – former principal, currently teaching at Bennington College
Neil Balm – current co-principal NYC Ballet
Robert Haley – NYC Ballet
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
Jazz

Donald Byrd
Mercer Ellington
Jonah Jones
Wynton Marsalis
Joseph Wilder
Soloists/Chamber Artists

Stephen Burns - soloist and Artistic Director of Fulcrum Point
Fred Mills - formerly with Canadian Brass, currently at University of Georgia
Ronald Romm – formerly with Canadian Brass, currently at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Professors

Edward Carroll – California Institute of the Arts
Mario Guarneri – formerly with LA Philharmonic, currently at San Francisco Conservatory
Louis Ranger – University of Victoria, BC
Jeffrey Silberschlag – St Mary’s College of Maryland

imported_administrator

Images of Mr. Vacchiano courtesy of abbedd

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