Last Stop, Carnegie Hall: New York Philharmonic Trumpeter William Vacchiano

Introduction

1 Introduction i met William Vacchiano when he was ninety-one years old; i was twenty-four. i was a doctoral student in trumpet performance at arizona state University, and my major professor, David Hickman, and i decided that writing a biography of a famous musician would be just the right fit for me and my interests. i compiled a list of prominent trumpet players who did not have an extended biography published on them and we began discussing the possibility of each for my project.When we got to William Vacchiano, professor Hickman asked if any major research existed on him. i double-checked all my resources and could locate only a handful of articles—no official biography could be found. Mr. Hickman called William Vacchiano and proposed that i write his biography. Mr. Vacchiano warmly accepted this request. i was quite nervous when i called Mr. Vacchiano for the first time because he had been retired from the new York philharmonic for longer than i had been alive. My hands were cold and clammy and my heart was racing as i dialed his phone number. i briefly introduced myself and explained the purpose of the call. He was very friendly; the conversation couldn’t have lasted more than five minutes. He agreed to some preliminary telephone interviews, and i set up several trips from arizona to new York. When i arrived in new York for the first interview, i phoned Mr. Vacchiano for directions to his house from the subway. He proceeded to give me exact directions as to which train to take, which end to get on, and how to exit the subway so that i surfaced in front of the appropriate bus stop. i got the distinct impression that describing the same route 2 introDUCtion he spent so many years taking was a joy for him. His directions were perfect,and i got there like i’d been doing it all my life.When i rang the doorbell, Mr. Vacchiano came to the door, dressed in a tie and sweater, and he welcomed me into his home. His eyes were most striking—inviting , personal, gentle, and full of life. He showed me into his living room as he said, “Call me Bill.” getting started was as simple as that, and for the next two years he told me his stories, i interviewed friends and former students, and i did my research. every time i worked on the project, a new York philharmonic record was playing in the background . it was almost like having Bill in the room. initially, i set out to find as many of his professional accomplishments as possible in order to accent his career and exhibit his influence in the musical world. i did not get any further than the first interview with one of his students before realizing the depth of his humanity. interview after interview was chock full of personal anecdotes of how Bill cared about each student as a person, not just as a musician. even though i never had the privilege of studying with Bill, he always treated me as if i was a part of his musical family. We exchanged letters and Christmas cards every year until he died in 2005.During one of my several visits to his home, Bill gave me a stack of all his personal notes from the various lectures he had given over the course of his illustrious career. included with those notes was an unfinished autobiography he had called “Carnegie Hall: The Last stop.” This information became critical in my research and i wanted to honor him by incorporating his words with mine for the title of this book. ...