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Biography
Abe
Torchinsky, a native of Philadelphia began
playing tuba in a Boy Scout band. In 1935 he
began taking lessons with a young student at the
Curtis Institute named Arnold Jacobs. By the
time he was in high school, he was performing
professionally on tuba and bass, even playing
with Isham Jones Orchestra. He enrolled at
Curtis in 1940 and studied with Philip Donatelli,
the tubist of the Philadelphia Orchestra until
the wind department at the Institute was shut
down at the beginning of World War II. Mr.
Torchinsky played in the Southern Symphony
Orchestra and with the National Symphony
Orchestra for one season (1942-1943). He then
moved to New York City for concentrated study
with William J. Bell. He performed in the
original cast productions of Billy Rose’s
Seven Lively Arts, and Rogers and
Hammerstein’s Carousel and Allegro,
and was in the cast of the movie Carnegie
Hall. He performed with the Cities Service
Band of America under Paul LaValle, and the NBC
Symphony with Arturo Toscanini (1946-1949).
Torchinsky joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in
1949, and served as principal tuba until 1972.
Mr. Torchinsky and trombonist Henry Charles
Smith hosted a radio program about the
orchestra. After retiring from the Philadelphia
Orchestra, Torchinsky became a member of the
faculty of the University of Michigan
(1972-1989). A Philadelphia Brass Ensemble
recording, The Glorious Sound of Brass
earned a Grammy in 1967. The Philadelphia Brass
Ensemble’s recording of the Antiphonal Music
of Gabrieli with the Chicago and Cleveland
Brass Ensembles won a Grammy in 1969. The
Philadelphia Brass Ensemble as soloists were
also nominated in 1976 for a two album set of
Hindemith’s sonatas for brass instruments with
pianist Glenn Gould. A less-familiar, early
recording called Catch the Brass Ring by
the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, masquerading as
the “Torchy Jones Quintet” had the distinction
of being pulled from distribution by Columbia
after Eugene Ormandy objected to orchestra
members making a “jazz” recording. His
scholarly efforts in publishing full parts to
orchestral works were an innovation and a vast
improvement for students over previously
available excerpt books.
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