Don Montalto has been playing trumpet since he was 8 years old. He earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree in trumpet performance from S.U.N.Y. Buffalo in 1972. From 1973 to 1978, he lived in Cologne, Germany where he studied trumpet with Adam Zeyer at the Musik Hochschule Koeln. During this time, he also taught trumpet at the Musikschule Bergisch-Gladbach, and he played trumpet with the Dieter Gaertner Big Band and the Offenbach Theater of Cologne. In addition to his music career, he developed a second profession as an English language teacher working first for the Cologne Public Schools in Germany and later for Boston University, the International Institutes of Boston and Buffalo, SUNY Buffalo. Since 1980, he has been teaching English to immigrants and refugees at Erie Community College. Besides being a regular member of the Amherst Symphony since 1985, he has also performed locally with the Clarence Summer Orchestra, the Erie County Wind Ensemble, the Brantwood Brass, the Buffalo Silver Band, and the Cheektowaga Symphony. In 2008, he retired from full-time teaching. He is currently writing an ESL (English as a Second Language) textbook.
