Vincenzo Casale

clarinette

Vincenzo Casale (1981) is an Italian clarinettist and conductor specializing in historical performance practice on period instruments. In high demand in Europe and North America as a soloist and chamber musician, he has also been engaged in numerous projects as a guest conductor and artistic director in recent years.
He has performed in solo and chamber music concerts with artists such as forte-pianists Claire Chevallier, Boyan Vodenitcharov, and Viviana Sofronisky. His chamber music collaborations include performances with Sergei Istomin, Roel Dieltiens, Paul Dombrecht, Marcel Ponseele, and Geneviève Soly. Casale has participated in recent collaborations in Europe, Asia, and America with renowned ensembles such as the Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Chambre Philharmonique, Insula Orchestra, B'Rock, Orchestre du 18ème siècle, Freiburger Barockorchester, Concerto Köln, Ensemble Balthasar Neumann, Les Agrémens, Concert Spirituel, Il Fondamento, Das Neue Orchester, Opera Fuoco, Philidor, Ecurie et Chambre du Roi, Anima Eterna, and Les Talens Lyrique. He has worked with esteemed conductors including Frans Bruggen, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Thomas Hengelbrock, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Jos van Immerseel, Hervé Niquet, Laurence Equilbey, Simon Rattle, Emmanuelle Haïm, Teodor Currentzis, and more.
Vincenzo Casale has showcased his talent at various festivals worldwide, including the Tokyo Festival, Aix-en-Provence, Alden Biesen, Beaune, Leipzig Bach Festival, Klang & Raum Festival, AMUZ, MA Festival Bruges, Nantes, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, St. Riquier, Festival van Vlaanderen, Festival de Wallonie, Utrecht, Lockenhaus, Schleswig-Holstein, and Sopron.
Vincenzo Casale has shown a keen interest in contemporary music, having several composers dedicate new compositions for clarinet to him, including works by Frédéric Devreese and Michel Fourgon.

In addition to his position as a Professor of Historical Clarinet at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Vincenzo Casale has been invited to teach at various prestigious institutions worldwide. These include the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, the Royal Conservatory of Liege, the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, the Middle East University of Ankara, and the Conservatories of Turin, Milan, Naples, Rome, and Perugia. He has also shared his expertise with students at Aichi University of Arts and Cape Town University.

In his role as a conductor and musical director, Vincenzo Casale serves as the artistic director of TWIS (Taffanel Wind Instruments Society) for tours and international collaborations, including the Alicante Festival and the PARTS international dance school of Anne Theresa de Keersmaeker. He has been invited to conduct by the Hirzen Pavillon Ensemble in Basel, the NJO orchestra academy, and the orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. Additionally, he is the founder and artistic director of the interdisciplinary ARTONOV festival in Brussels since 2015.
Vincenzo Casale possesses a remarkable collection of historical clarinets, featuring various French and German Romantic originals such as those made by Pöschl, Osterried, Guerre, Simiot, Greve, Widman, Lefevre, and more. He has a specific fascination with the diverse types of historical bass and treble clarinet registers, often utilizing them in numerous recordings.

Vincenzo Casale began his musical studies on the violin and recorder, before switching to the clarinet at the age of 14. He obtained his clarinet diploma from the Conservatorio G. Verdi Conservatory in Turin at just 19. He was awarded first prize in clarinet and music theory at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles and first prize in chamber music at the Conservatoire Royal de Liège. He also studied at the Académie Chigiana with Antoine Pay and was mentored during his studies by Walter Boeykens. He then decided to study the chalumeaux and the classical and romantic clarinet in the Netherlands with Eric Hoeprich, and obtained a Master's degree in historical performance and historical clarinet at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.
He has attended conducting masterclasses and participated in workshops led by Colin Matters, Benjamin Zander, and Martin Elmquist.
He has recorded for prestigious labels, including Harmonia Mundi, Virgin Classique, Ricercar Outhere, and Zig Zag Territoires, as well as for prominent television and radio stations like Radio Klara, Radio France, Mezzo, Arte, Rai, VRT, RTBF...

Vincenzo Casale lives in Brussels, where he is pursuing his international career.