Vincent DeRosa

Vincent DeRosa was a Los Angeles studio musician who played horn for Hollywood soundtracks and other recordings dating back to the 1940s. He was arguably the most recorded brass player of all time, having played on more film soundtracks than any other single musician. Reputedly, he is also said to be the richest. He was the first horn for such greats as Henry Mancini, Alfred Newman, Lalo Schifrin, and John Williams. DeRosa played a Conn 8D horn.

DeRosa was born to a singing mother, and a clarinet playing father, in Kansas City. His family moved around a bit, first to Chicago, and then to Los Angeles. He studied with Vincent DeRobertus and Alfred Brain, before beginning his professional career at the age of seventeen in the horn section at 20th Century Fox.

During his professional career, DeRosa played in many different places, in many different roles. He started his career at 20th Century Fox, before playing in an army recording orchestra. After his release from the army, he decided to switch to freelance recording, where he first found work in live radio broadcasts.

As a young but gifted horn player, DeRosa gained playing experience through numerous freelance opportunities while most of the studio players were restricted by contract to playing in only one studio. Hence, before long, DeRosa successfully established himself as the "first-call" horn player in the recording industry.

It is believed that DeRosa's extraordinary accuracy in his playing was one of the keys for his success in the business, always demonstrating an extremely high level of discipline, even as a teenager. James Decker (another famous studio horn player) recalled that DeRosa hardly made mistakes during recording sessions, but thinks what really made DeRosa successful was his colorful and variable sound (the reference to a colorful and variable sound is probably an inaccurate quote or paraphrase. As stated in the next sentence, it was the warm and beautiful tone not its variability that was DeRosas's hallmark). Many film composers were very attracted to DeRosa's warm and beautiful tone color and hence began to write prominent horn solo's in their scores. DeRosa's impact on the business brought along with it, a new standard for studio horn parts.

At DeRosa's retirement concert/celebration, composer John Williams wrote:

Until he retired in 2005, DeRosa was also on the faculty at the University of Southern California, where many of his students have gone on to successful careers in horn performance.