Remembering Frank Kaderabek

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family mourns the loss of Frank Kaderabek, who served as a member of the trumpet section from 1958 until 1966. He died at his home in East Falls, Pennsylvania, on December 28, 2023, at the age of 94.

Kaderabek was born in Cicero, Illinois, on May 24, 1929, the son of Czech immigrants — his father a butcher and his mother a seamstress. He began playing trumpet in middle school and continued as a student at Morton High School. In 1946, at 17, Kaderabek began studies with Edward Masacek, who had been a member of the CSO’s trumpet section since 1921.

He won a scholarship to the Chicago Musical College (now the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University) and began studies in the fall of 1948. During his freshman year, Kaderabek first heard the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in February 1949 as a member of the Chicago Musical College Chorus, performing in Mahler’s Second Symphony under the baton of Fritz Busch. During the 1949–50 season, he was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and studied with the CSO’s principal trumpet Adolph “Bud” Herseth.

In 1950 Kaderabek joined the West Point Band, serving for three years during U.S. involvement in the Korean War. Following military service, he became principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1953, a position he would hold for five years. A month before beginning his tenure in Dallas, Kaderabek was invited to perform as an extra trumpet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Fritz Reiner‘s first concerts as sixth music director in October 1953, in Berlioz’s Overture to Benvenuto Cellini and Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. He also performed as principal trumpet of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra from 1954 until 1957.

In the fall of 1957, Kaderabek was invited by Reiner to audition for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and won the position of assistant/third trumpet. He began his tenure in March 1958, continuing to perform under seventh music director Jean Martinon. He won the principal trumpet spot in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1966, and in 1975, he was hired by music director Eugene Ormandy as principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1995.

For more than three decades, Kaderabek was on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music, and he also taught at West Chester University, Oakland University, University of Michigan and Temple University. In his retirement, he continued to practice the trumpet every day, and he enjoyed woodworking, refinishing old furniture, collecting model trains, visiting flea markets and reading (particularly about history). Always the student, he began piano lessons in his late eighties.

“The finest hours were always when the Orchestra sat on the stage and played its heart out,” Kaderabek remembered during a 1988 interview for the CSO’s Oral History Project. “Even after being away from this orchestra now for twenty-two years, I still remember that and I still think it’s a tribute to the artistry of all of those people.”

Frank Kaderabek is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Mary; daughters Elizabeth (Michael Tucker), Laura (Adam Eyring) and Sarah (John Galbraith); and sons Vincent and Anthony (Ella Fok); seven grandchildren: Dylan, Nina, Luke, Nicholas, Tristan, Elly and Nadja; and his devoted dog Blarney. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society, the Red Cross, or the American Federation of Musicians Local 77. Tributes have been posted online here and on the International Trumpet Guild website.

A celebration of life and reception will be held at Laurel Hill West in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, January 6, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. To join virtually, click here (meeting ID: 856 3427 1824, passcode: 683446).

This article also appears here.