William Vacchiano, who served on the Juilliard faculty for an astounding 67 years and played with the New York Philharmonic from 1936 (under the baton of Toscanini) to 1973 (under Pierre Boulez), died on September 19 of natural causes at Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 93.

William Vacchiano

Born May 23, 1912, in Portland, Me., Vacchiano grew up in a Neapolitan Italian-speaking household, and began studying the trumpet at age 12 after a misunderstanding with his father. The elder Vacchiano had advised his son to take up the "clarinetto," but the youngster couldn't remember the name of the instrument exactly and came home with a "cornetto" instead. He was good enough to be playing with the Portland Symphony by the time he was in high school (in addition to performing as an unofficial member of the 242nd Coast Artillery Band).

Vacchiano studied at the Institute of Musical Art (later to become The Juilliard School) with Max Schlossberg from 1931-35, when he auditioned for—and won contracts from—both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic on the same day. With the Met's blessing, Vacchiano went with the Philharmonic, where he became principal trumpet in 1942. In the course of his 38-year career with the orchestra before his retirement in 1973, he played and recorded with such illustrious conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Andre Kostelanetz, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, George Szell, and Bruno Walter. Reportedly, he never missed a performance.

Vacchiano was renowned for his impeccable technique, beautiful tone, and graceful legato, and was also largely responsible for the widespread modern practice of using trumpets in various keys to fit the instrument to the music more closely. He was also the author of numerous trumpet method books and even designed his own line of trumpet mouthpieces (earning the nickname of "Mr. Embouchure" in some circles).

A longtime Juilliard faculty member from 1935-2002 (becoming faculty emeritus in 1998), Vacchiano also taught at four other schools in the New York area: Columbia Teachers College, Mannes College of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Queens College. In 1995, he estimated that he had taught some 2,000 trumpet students; at one time, his students were playing in virtually every major orchestra in the United States. Among the many he taught at Juilliard who went on to significant careers were Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Gerard Schwarz, and current faculty member Philip Smith (who inherited his teacher's position as principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic).

In May 2002, some 100 of Vacchiano's former students, colleagues, and friends gathered for a celebration of his 90th birthday at Juilliard. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the School in 2003 and returned this past May for the 100th commencement, at which he was honored with the Juilliard Medal.

Vacchiano is survived by his daughter JoAnn and daughter-in-law Barbara, as well as four grandchildren. His son Ralph and wife Ethel predeceased him.