Steve Vacchi, Professor
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(541) 346-3748 | vacchi@uoregon.edu
Steve Vacchi is professor of bassoon at the University of Oregon, where he also coordinates the chamber music program. His teachers have included C. Robert Reinert, Rebecca Eldredge, Matthew Ruggiero, K. David Van Hoesen, Stephen Maxym, Frank Morelli, and William Ludwig. He holds degrees in performance from the Eastman School of Music (B.M. with high distinction/
Performer’s Certificate), The Hartt School (M.M.), and Louisiana State University (D.M.A.), where he held a Board of Regents Fellowship. His dissertation is a “how-to” for bassoonists on fluttertongue and singing while playing; it focuses on five solo works requiring both techniques.
A member of Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Kappa Phi, he was formerly a faculty member at Wichita State University (KS) and the Brevard Music Center (NC).
He has presented masterclasses at high schools, conservatories, and universities throughout the United States and China.
Vacchi’s recording credits include Argo, BMG Classics, Centaur, NMC (Israel), North Pacific, Sony Classical, Edward Hines Music, Equilibrium, 8 Bells Records, Origin Classical, and Imagine Music. He has performed in 23 countries throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. In the U.S., Vacchi has performed with The Florida Orchestra, Santa Fe ProMusica, the Rhode Island, Tulsa, and Rochester Philharmonics, and the New World, Baton Rouge, Colorado, Honolulu, Kansas City, Oregon, Eugene, New Haven, and Wichita Symphony Orchestras. He is a member of the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Eugene Opera Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival, Arizona MusicFest, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (CA), and Music on the Hill (RI). He has performed in backup groups for such diverse artists as Michael Brecker, Victor Borge, Garrison Keillor, Luciano Pavarotti, Tony Bennett, The Moody Blues, and Peter Schickele. He has been a featured soloist in works by Haydn, Mozart, Strauss, J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Lindpaintner, Jurriaan Andriessen, Michael Daugherty, Walter Hartley, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Walter Mays, and Peter Hope.
An advocate of new music, Vacchi has performed more than 340 recently-composed works, including 100 premieres. A member of the Oregon Wind Quintet, he also performs with Doug Detrick’s AnyWhen Ensemble, which features contemporary improvisation and jazz chamber music. Vacchi maintains interests in instrument collecting and early music, performing on dulcian, rackett, Baroque, Classical, and French bassoons. He has performed throughout the west coast as a Baroque bassoonist, including appearances with the Portland Baroque Orchestra. Vacchi’s biography is included in Marquis’ Who’s Who in America.
