David Van Vactor
David Van Vactor (May 8, 1906 – March 24, 1994) was an American composer of contemporary classical music.He was born in Plymouth, Indiana, and received Bachelor of Music (1928) and Master of Music (1935) degrees from Northwestern University. He studied with Arne Oldberg, Mark Wessel, Ernst Nolte (composer), Leo Sowerby, Paul Dukas, Franz Schmidt, and Arnold Schoenberg.
He was the assistant conductor of the Chicago Civic Orchestra (1933–34) and was both the flute section leader and assistant conductor of the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra from 1943 to 1947. He served as the conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra from 1947 until 1972. He also appeared as guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestras of Rio de Janeiro and Santiago, Chile.
He composed well over one hundred major works, including seven symphonies, nine concertos, five large pieces for chorus and orchestra, many orchestral, chamber and vocal works, and four pieces for symphonic band. In 1938 his Symphony in D won the Second Annual Competition of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society for a major symphonic work by a U. S. composer (his former teacher Mark Wessel received the sole Honorable Mention in the same competition). The Symphony was premiered on January 19, 1939 by the Philharmonic-Symphony, conducted by the composer. His music was recorded by the conductor William Strickland.
He was Professor of Composition and Flute at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His notable students include the "Van Vactor Five": Gilbert Trythall, Richard Trythall, David P. Sartor, Jesse Ayers, and Doug Davis. He was named Composer Laureate of the State of Tennessee by the Tennessee State Legislature and was succeeded in that position by another of his composition students, Michael Kurek in 2022. He died in Los Angeles, California, in 1994.
The David Van Vactor Collection is held by the University of Tennessee Special Collections Library in Knoxville, Tennessee. Provided by Wikipedia
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3by Patricia R. Goodwin, Alice Meng, Jessie Moore, Michael Hobin, Tudor A. Fulga, David Van Vactor, Leslie C. GriffithGet full text
Published 2018-06-01
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4by Soohong Min, Yangkyun Oh, Pushpa Verma, Samuel C Whitehead, Nilay Yapici, David Van Vactor, Greg SB Suh, Stephen LiberlesGet full text
Published 2021-02-01
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5by Bruno Mugat, Abdou Akkouche, Vincent Serrano, Claudia Armenise, Blaise Li, Christine Brun, Tudor A Fulga, David Van Vactor, Alain Pélisson, Séverine ChambeyronGet full text
Published 2015-05-01
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8by James A Walker, Jean Y Gouzi, Jennifer B Long, Sidong Huang, Robert C Maher, Hongjing Xia, Kheyal Khalil, Arjun Ray, David Van Vactor, René Bernards, André BernardsGet full text
Published 2013-11-01
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9by Manavendra Pathania, Juan Torres-Reveron, Lily Yan, Tomoki Kimura, Tiffany V Lin, Valerie Gordon, Zhao-Qian Teng, Xinyu Zhao, Tudor A Fulga, David Van Vactor, Angélique BordeyGet full text
Published 2012-01-01
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10by Elizabeth M. McNeill, Chloe Warinner, Stephen Alkins, Alicia Taylor, Hansine Heggeness, Todd F. DeLuca, Tudor A. Fulga, Dennis P. Wall, Leslie C. Griffith, David Van VactorGet full text
Published 2020-02-01
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11by Elizabeth M. McNeill, Cheryl Thompson, Brett Berke, Vivian T. Chou, Jannette Rusch, April Duckworth, Jamin DeProto, Alicia Taylor, Julie Gates, Frank Gertler, Haig Keshishian, David Van VactorGet full text
Published 2020-03-01
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13by Maria Dimitriadi, James N Sleigh, Amy Walker, Howard C Chang, Anindya Sen, Geetika Kalloo, Jevede Harris, Tom Barsby, Melissa B Walsh, John S Satterlee, Chris Li, David Van Vactor, Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, Anne C HartGet full text
Published 2010-10-01
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