Liebe Mitforscher!
Ich suche die Eltern von
Wolfgang VACANO 23.12.1906 in Köln?
Gestorben 3.01.1985 in
Illinois /USA
Angeblich soll sein Vater
Stefan VACANO
aus Königsberg Ostpreußen sein
Besten Dank!
Grüsse Stefan Pusinelli
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/bfc/view?docId=B47-1987&chunk.id=d1e97&toc.i
d=&brand=bfc
Memorial Resolution
PROFESSOR EMERITUS WOLFGANG VACANO
(December 23, 1906 - January 3, 1985)
Wolfgang Vacano was a familiar figure in the hallways of the School of
Music. Constantly driven by nervous energy, he seemed always in a hurry for
his next appointment and was only happy when his days were filled with a
multitude of varied projects. His 26 years of service to Indiana University
covered a period in which the School of Music grew from relatively modest
beginnings to the enviable position it occupies today.
He was born in Cologne, Germany, but his family moved to Berlin while he was
still a child and he always considered himself a Berliner. He began studies
on the violin and the piano while still a child and entered the Staatliche
Hochschule fu"r Musik in Berlin at the age of 16. He received his diploma as
Orchestra Conductor in 1928.
That same year, at the age of 22, he began his career at the Municipal Opera
House in Osnabru"ck, Germany, later moving on to the opera houses in
Munster, Germany and Biel-Solothurn, Switzerland.
In 1939 he left Europe for South America, where he worked at the opera
houses in Santiago, Chile; Montevideo, Uruguay; La Plata, Argentina; and
finally at the renowned Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.
In 1951 he joined the faculty of the School of Music at Indiana University,
where he remained until his retirement in 1977. He taught "Conducting" and
"Opera Workshop" and conducted an enormous number of orchestra and opera
performances. His interpretation of Wagner's Parsifal and Die Meistersinger
and the Beethoven Ninth Symphony still remain fresh in the memory of many.
Once, while preparing a performance of Debussy's Pelleas and Melisande, he
began to revise the translation but didn't stop until he had written a
complete new translation in ten days of work.
His boundless energy drove him on to new and varied activities even after
his retirement. He was the Music Director of the Indianapolis Philharmonic
Orchestra since 1963; he became the Music Director of the National Orchestra
of Nicaragua in Managua, remaining until he was forced to flee for his life.
He was still Music Director of the Peoria (Illinois) Civic Opera at the time
of his death. He loved to travel and spent extended periods in Germany, but
if he had some free time he would simply take off in his Airstream trailer
to the Dakotas or the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
His contribution to the School of Music was the wisdom and experience of an
artistic life and--more importantly--the good humor, kindness, and
consideration of a truly gentle person.
In recognition of Wolfgang Vacano's service to this university, be it
resolved that this memorial resolution become a part of the minutes of the
Bloomington Faculty Council and that copies be sent to his widow, Charlotte
Schaible Vacano; and to his two sons, Jost and Christopher.
George Calder
Commemorated by the Bloomington Faculty Council: April 21, 1987
Charlotte Amelia Mitchell Schaible Vacano