Terig Tucci

Who was Terig Tucci?

Terig Tucci was an Argentine composer, violinist, pianist, and mandolinist.

Tucci was born in Buenos Aires, in 1897. His first composition, Cariños de Madre was performed for a zarzuela at the Avenida Theatre, in 1917. Following a career as a violinist in local cinema orchestras, he left in 1923 for New York, and from 1930 to 1941, performed for NBC Radio. Prominent recording label RCA Victor named Tucci executive producer of their lucrative Latin American music unit in 1932, and in 1934, he performed with fellow countryman Carlos Gardel during the renowned tango vocalist's Paramount Pictures contract.

Remaining at the helm of RCA Victor's Latin unit, Tucci served as lead music arranger for CBS' Pan-American Symphony Orchestra from 1940 to 1949 where he collaborated with the accordionist John Serry Sr. and the conductor Alfredo Antonini on the radio program Viva America. He also performed for General Electric from 1941 to 1947, and for the Voice of America, from 1951 to 1959. Tucci led his tango orchestra in numerous RCA recordings, notably My Buenos Aires, in 1958. He retired from RCA Victor in 1964, and in 1969, wrote a reflection on Gardel's last days, Gardel en Nueva York. Tucci lived out his final years in his Forest Hills, Queens, home. He died during a visit to Buenos Aires in 1973, and was buried in New York.