[1] Farinacci was one of eighteen artists worldwide invited to be a part of the inaugural class of the Jazz Studies Program at The Juilliard School.
He put a band together with some of his friends and mentors in Cleveland and began dropping off demo recordings to local club owners.
[2][3] Soon, Farinacci was working five to six nights a week in the local jazz clubs with his own group, and as a sideman with some of the older musicians in town.
At age 16 he received the Yamaha Young Performing Artist Award, which provided him an opportunity to play a solo piece at the University of Illinois for a crowd of more than 2,000 people.
Within the first two months of school, Marsalis invited Farinacci to be featured in a concert at Lincoln Center; a tribute to two of his favorite trumpet players, Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan: Night of the Cookers.
In April 2002 he recorded his debut album, Manhattan Dreams, which featured pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Chip Jackson, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.
[2] He has opened for British rock stars Jamie Cullum and Jeff Beck at the O2 in London, and has performed at Severance Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra.
Farinacci received Gold Disc awards for two Japanese recordings from Swing Journal magazine: Say It and Besame Mucho.