Photograph of (l-r) Maria Bellanca, Lara Elizabeth Wasserman, Jennifer Youngs, Christian Bester, Emily Hueske, and Shaun Brown performing Act One, Scene Four of "A Death in the Family" at the 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera Gala held at the National Arts Club in New York.

Photograph of Jennifer Youngs and Christian Bester performing Act Two, Scene One of "A Death in the Family" at the 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera Gala held at the National Arts Club in New York.

Photograph of Lara Elizabeth Wasserman performing Act One, Scene Four of "A Death in the Family" at the 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera Gala held at the National Arts Club in New York.

Photograph of Maria Bellanca and Shaun Brown performing at the 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera Gala held at the National Arts Club in New York.

Photograph of Richard Croft playing Ahab in "Moby-Dick" during a performance at the 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera Gala held at the National Arts Club in New York.

Photograph of Stephen Morscheck performing at the 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera Gala held at the National Arts Club in New York.

Photograph of Stephen Morscheck performing at the 2012 Center for Contemporary Opera Gala held at the National Arts Club in New York.

William Vacchiano (1912–2005) was principal trumpet with the New York Philharmonic from 1942 to 1973, and taught at Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music, the Mannes College of Music, Queens College, and Columbia Teachers College. While at the Philharmonic, Vacchiano performed under the batons of Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and Leonard Bernstein and played in the world premieres of almost 200 pieces by such composers as Vaughan Williams, Copland, and Barber. Vacchiano was important not only for his performances, but also for his teaching. His students have held the principal chairs of many major orchestras and are prominent teachers themselves, and they have enriched non-classical music as well. Two of his better known students are Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis. Last Stop, Carnegie Hall features an overview of the life of this very private artist, based on several personal interviews conducted by Brian A. Shook and Vacchiano’s notes for his own unpublished memoir. Shook also interviewed many of his students and colleagues and includes a chapter containing their recollections. Other important topics include analyses of Vacchiano’s pedagogical methods and his interpretations of important trumpet pieces, his “rules of orchestral performance,” and his equipment. A discography, a bibliography of …