Short Bio
Dr. Brandon Vaccaro is a composer, performer, music producer, and audio engineer.
As a composer, Vaccaro has received awards, commendations, and commissions from Iowa State University Carillon Festival, New York Youth Symphony’s First Music program, the University of Denver, the University of Colorado, Boulder, ASCAP/SCI, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Motion Picture Sound Editors.
As a performer and improviser, Vaccaro has been active in chamber and popular venues. He was guitarist of several innovative bands in Colorado’s Front Range including Kallisti and Coefficient of Friction. He has also collaborated with S. Lyn Goeringer, Conrad Kehn (as MacroCephalic Cabal), Jesse Woods (as Ground), and Scott Schulz (as Shutter Trio).
From 2007-2008, he curated a gallery series for music, sound installations, and audio/visual works in Denver titled Sound.scapes Presented by Mystery Cabal.
Vaccaro holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He also studied at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver and the University of Colorado, Denver.
Vaccaro is currently the coordinator of Sound Recording Technology and an Associate Teaching Professor in Music at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Long Bio
Dr. Brandon Vaccaro is a composer, performer, music producer, and audio engineer.
As a composer, Vaccaro has received awards, commendations, and commissions from Iowa State University Carillon Festival, New York Youth Symphony’s First Music program, the University of Denver, the University of Colorado, Boulder The Playground Ensemble, and ASCAP/SCI. His film work has been recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (2012 Heartland Emmy winner, 2014 Heartland Emmy nominee) and the Motion Picture Sound Editors (2012 MPSE Golden Reel Nominee). His works have been performed by the Tosca String Quartet, the Vinca Quartet, the Lamont Symphony Orchestra under Lawrence Golan, carilloneur Todd Fair, vocalist Derrick Ballard, guitarist Jonathan Leathwood, and pianist Fernanda Nieto-Pulido.
As a performer, Vaccaro has been active in chamber and popular venues, and as an improviser in both solo and ensemble settings. He was guitarist of several innovative bands in Colorado’s Front Range including Kallisti and Coefficient of Friction. He has also collaborated with S. Lyn Goeringer, Conrad Kehn (as MacroCephalic Cabal), Jesse Woods (as Ground), and Scott Schulz (as Shutter Trio). His group Free Love Ensemble was praised for its blend of “cutting-edge jazz with rock influences and motifs inspired by twentieth-century classical music” (Westword).
From 2007-2008, he curated a gallery series for music, sound installations, and audio/visual works in Denver titled Sound.scapes Presented by Mystery Cabal.
Vaccaro holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver. He has studied composition with Daniel Kellogg, Carter Pann, and Michael Theodore at the University of Colorado and Dave Hanson, William Hill, Donald Keats, and Chris Malloy at the University of Denver. His principal guitar teachers were Masakazu Ito and David DiMichaelis. He also studied Recording Arts at the University of Colorado, Denver as a post-graduate student in the Master of Science in Recording Arts program.
He is currently the coordinator of Sound Recording Technology and an Associate Teaching Professor in Music at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He previously taught at Kent State University at Stark, at the College of Music at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver.