He was a double bassist born Emilio Anthony Gravagno in Chicago, Illinois who studied at DePaul University and South-eastern Louisiana College before attending the Curtis Institute of Music where he earned a Certificate of Bass Performance.
He went on to perform with the New Orleans Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.before becoming a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1967. He performed in the bass section for 42 years until his retirement in 2009.
During his time with The Philadelphia Orchestra he also performed with several quartets and quintets.
After his retirement he and his wife underwrote the Carole H. and Emilio A. Gravagno Double Bass Studio for studying the instrument at the Curtis Institute of Music and also donated his own 19th century Italian double bass to the school.
He and his wife also commissioned Crucifixion and Resurrection by Hannibal Lokumbe as a reaction to the mass shooting in Charleston in 2015.
Recordings he performed on during his career include Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”/Dumka by The Philadelphia Orchestra.
He died at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in September 2016 after a long battle with lymphoma when he was 82 years old.
Sources:
- https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/inquirer/name/emilio-gravagno-obituary?id=9421463
- https://hub.americanorchestras.org/2016/09/30/obituary-emilio-anthony-gravagno-longtime-philadelphia-orchestra-bassist-82/
- https://theviolinchannel.com/emilio-gravagno-bass-philadelphia-orchestra-obituary/
- https://slippedisc.com/2016/09/philadelphia-mourns-an-influential-bass/
- https://www.isbworldoffice.com/in-memory.asp
- https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/fdscontent/uscompanion/us/static/companion.websites/9780199357031/ch1/1.2.pdf
- https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/4625589-Emilio-Gravagno