Bassoonist Steve Vacchi holds degrees in performance from the Eastman School of Music (B.M., 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. He also studied at the Yale School of Music and has presented masterclasses throughout the United States, South Korea, Thailand, and China. He has served as a faculty sabbatical replacement at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.

An international performer, Vacchi has played in 26 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. In the U.S., he has performed with The Florida Orchestra, Santa Fe ProMusica, the Rhode Island, Tulsa, Rochester, and Los Angeles Philharmonics; and the Saint Louis, New World, Baton Rouge, Colorado, Honolulu, Kansas City, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, New Haven, and Wichita Symphony Orchestras. He has appeared as a soloist in works from Haydn to contemporary composers and has performed over 500 contemporary works, including 170 premieres.

Vacchi’s recording credits include 32 releases of wide-ranging repertoire from J.S. Bach to the present. A member of the Eugene Symphony, OrchestraNext, and the Oregon Bach Festival, and a regular extra with the Oregon Symphony, he also performs on rare woodwinds including heckelphone, contrabass sarrusophone, basset horn, and contrabass clarinet. He has been Professor of Bassoon at the University of Oregon since 2000, where he also serves as Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs.