Born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Checchia attended
Jules E. Mastbaum Area Vocational Technical School and the
Curtis Institute of Music. He graduated from Curtis in 1951. As a bassoonist, he played with the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the
United States Navy Band, and the
New York City Ballet Orchestra. Checchia first attended the
Marlboro Music Festival in 1956. In 1958,
Rudolf Serkin invited Checchia to become the principal administrator of the Marlboro Music Festival. Checchia met the soprano
Benita Valente at Marlboro. Valente and Checchia married in 1959. In 1964, Checchia presented the inaugural Music From Marlboro concerts at the
Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia. In 1986, Checchia and Philip Maneval co-founded the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, with Checchia as artistic director and Maneval as executive director. Checchia and Valente had a son, Peter. Checchia died at his
Rittenhouse Square residence in Philadelphia on 7 September 2024. His widow and son survived him. ==References==