National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum
605 East 222nd Street
Euclid, OH 44123
USA
E-
Phone: 216-
Toll Free: 1-
Fax: 216-
Amid the musical talent abounding in the Vadnal family, Frank Vadnal may well have had the most. Virtuoso banjoist and guitarist, vocalist, composer, arranger, translator, teacher, promoter, and a key member of the Vadnal Orchestra for over 50 years, Frankie Vadnal was the architect of the vocal harmonies that set the Vadnals apart.
Like his famous siblings, Frank began his musical career early, studying under Joe
Sodja and Frank Ovanin from age nine. With brothers Tony and Johnny and sister Valeria,
Frank was a charter member of Anna Vadnal's Vadnal Quartet, performing during the
mid-
Like most successful Cleveland-
Throughout the Vadnal Orchestra's glory years, Frank was at the band's nerve center,
devising the unique banjo and guitar treatments that placed the Vadnals at the creative
edge of Cleveland-
Frank broadcast with the Vadnals from the Bowl Ballroom on the Mutual Broadcasting
System during the 1950s, the Vadnals"'Polka Parade" television shows from 1949-
Always known as the "Quiet Vadnal," Frank was content to shun the limelight in favor of his brothers. Discounting his own role, Frank summarized his own career accomplishments by simply deferring to the Vadnal family's rich legacy and saying, "I was there."
Inducted in 1993
National Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
FRANK VADNAL
1921 -
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