William Vacchiano, Chicago School?

[KevinInGeorgia]

I am new to the Chicago School forum but wanted to post some information I just found out about William Vacchiano. My long time teacher, (Albert Ligotti) & I were having a conversation the other day about his days with Vacchiano. He told me about his first lesson with Vacchiano. He went to his first lesson with the idea he needed to play fast to show off. He played his etude & Vacchiano said, "Are you in a hurry to get some where?" that surprised him but he didn't respond. Next Vacchiano told him to play a C scale; he flew through it playing it as fast as he could. Vacchiano asked him to play it in Qtr notes.. Ligotti said but it’s only a C scale. Vacchiano looked at him & said no its Music not matter what it is always music. Ligotti told me from that day changed his life & he played everything as musically as possible from that day on. I think Vacchiano & many of his students, (Ghitalla, Ligotti) would agree with the concepts of the Chicago School.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Thanks,
Kevin

[_Don Herman]

Indeed, Sir Kevin, I think many fit the Chicago mold, and/or were influenced by -- directly or not! Using sound to guide development has been with us quite a while, of course. Jacobs, and Adams for that matter, lifted it to a new level by using sound to help train physical development, including fixing chop problems (if any).

"There's a little Chicago in us all" is one of my tag lines (sorry, Lee )

Thanks for the insightful post! - Don
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

[Atomlinson]

I found these quotes from an interview with Darren Barrett in the ITG Journal Jan 2003 P.20:

DB: "I started to commute from Boston to New Jersey to study with "Profs." Fielder talked a lot about keeping the throat open, staying relaxed, the speed of the air, articulation, warm-air, hot-air, etc. My work with him opened up my tone. What really helped was hearing his tone. He has a big, gorgeous sound. He told me something I've never forgotten, "Sound is the mirror of the mind. The sound that you hear in your mind is the sound that's going to come out of your horn." In other words, you have to have a great mental image of sound, and whatever that image, that's what's going to come out."


TE: What were the lessons with Vacchiano like?

DB: "What can I say? He's a guru. He's such a beautiful man. Don't even think of being late for one of his lessons. You get there a half-hour early and wait in the waiting room".


"We studied a lot of interpretation, orchestral excerpts, and transposition. He had some great concepts about tonguing. Fielder would give you his philosophies on tonguing, or breathing or slurring with the valve and the way the tongue should be shaped and so forth. With Vacchiano it was learning through playing music and etudes. He wanted the notes to be attacked properly. All of these things were all handled through learning music: Let me just say there were many etudes." (The Education of Darren Barrett by Tom Erdmann)

It's interesting that William Fielder (an ex-Cichowicz student) seems more analytical than Vacchiano. So maybe Vacchiano is closer to the Chicago School as suggested above.

Andrew Tomlinson

[thelurker]

I have always heard that Vacchaino was a chop worrier.

wouldnt that take him out of the chicago school?

[_Don Herman]

"Chop worrier?" Perhaps (I don't know), but the comments on this thread fit the forum.

For that matter, even as widely known a "chop doc" as Mr. Callet brings it all back to music, as I know through experience wth a relative who's been taking lessons from Mr. Callet for years. Ditto many other well-known "chop docs". Once the embouchure has been tweaked (Chicago folk do this too, btw, but using a musical model rather than purely physical), and even durng the process, music can still be used to guide mental and physical development.

FWIW, I think virtually all good teachers eventually get to a musical concept with their students. The starting point may vary, and different paths may be followed, but in the end only the music matters.

All imho, of course.
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

[trumpetfox1234]

Check this book out for yourself, and see if Vacchiano fits the mental and physiological characteristics of the "Chicago Sound" as exemplified by Herseth, Jacobs, and Scarlett.

They are my teachers.

See: http://www.trumpetworkspress.com
_________________
Michael I. Goode
Author
Stage Fright in Music Performance and Its Relationship to the Unconscious, 2nd ed.
Assistant Principal/Third Trumpet
Ravinia Festival Orchestra
www.trumpetworkspress.com