When Music Becomes Elixir

Stefano Casaccia, born in Trieste, completed his studies of "Ancient Musical Instruments" at the Conservatory "B. Marcello" of Venice with Peter Verardo. He studied among the most famous European specialists of flute, such as F. Köneke H., R. Conrad, and Clemencic K. Boeke.   He has held over a thousand concerts with great success and critical acclaim since 1971, playing in Italy, Central and Northern Europe, Central and South America, and Africa. He has also participated at the most important international musical festivals, including Montreax, Berlin, Schwetzingen, Montecarlo, Helsinki, Madrid, Barcelona, Bratislawa, Vienna, and Mexico City.

Stefano has also been part of radio and TV broadcasts, including stations as “Mondoradio” (Montreux, Switzerland), “Rai 3” (Radio Televisione Italiana, Capitoline Hill, Rome, Italy), “Radio Barcellona” (live from the Cathedral).  For thirty years he was a member of the prestigious ensemble “The Madrigalisti" of Venice, created by Mario Vio, with whom he brought the music of Monteverdi and Vivaldi all over the world.  He is the founder of the baroque “Complesso Nova Academia” and the “Complesso medieval- Renaissance Nuovo Ricercare”. He also plays in the “Blue Art Ensemble” with the composer and pianist Silvio Donati, as well as in other important musical groups.

Among the major awards are two Awards “Venezianello” with the Madrigalisti of Venice (1981) and the Nova Academia (1996), and the award of the Italian Society of Recorder (SIFD) at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (1991).  Given his demonstration of high skills in the arts with the “Madrigalisti of Venice”, the European Commission has given him the title of “Ambassador for Europe in the European Cultural Festivals” between 1998 and 2002.

He has recorded music for the Rusty Records, Sony Classical, and the Folkest.  He has published with various editors like Zanibon (Padova, Italy) and Rugginenti (Milano, Italy).   He has also collaborated with the magazine "Professional Music."  From 1992 to 1997 he was President of the “Gioventù Musicale d’Italia” (GMI) of the Trieste chapter and was also in the board at the national level.  Also since 1997 he is the artistic director of the Festival of Ancient and Chamber Music “I concerti della Cometa” that are present every year in fall and winter in Trieste.  In 2009 professor Casaccia created, for “Panta Rhei” (Lead Partner Association), the Project “BAROQUE”, which was inserted in the Program for Culture (20017-2013), and was one of the winning projects of the European “Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency” (EACEA).  The most prestigious concerts of recent years include in 2010 in Trieste and Cluj Napoca (Romania) for project BAROQUE, in Belgrade (Serbia), in the prestigious “Music Guarnerius Art Center”, Grado (Italy), and Vienna (Austria) at the Italian Institute of culture (for the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Biagio Marin organized by the same Center and chaired by prof. Edda Serra).   In 2010 and 2011 he played in Brussels (invited to the 15th anniversary dell'Opice (Organisme Pour l'Intégration Européenne de la Culture), and Messina, Sicily (at the University of Messina).   In Brussels he played also for the Italian Embassy for the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. In 2013 he performed in Liege and Croatia.   Graduated with a degree in Law, Stefano Cassaccia is currently a Professor of "Recorder and Flute" at the Conservatory “G. Tartini" of Trieste, Italy.

Roberta Bortolin was born in Trieste in a family who loved music and art.  The father studied violin while their maternal grandfather had graduated in piano and accompanied silent movies in movie theaters. Even their grandfather’s two brothers were musicians: one had started a famous music store in Trieste and was Director 's the RAI (Radio Televisione Italiana) orchestra, the other was a piano professor at the Conservatory.  From an early age they showed interest in music and even in the early months of life they expressed joy when listening to classical music played on the piano by their grandfather.  In her very early age, shows interest in music listening to her grandfather in her performances and at the age of four she started studying piano under the loving care of Prof. Nives Buzzai Caetani, from the school of the famous composer and pianist Franz Liszt. Her studies continue with this talented professor in an excellent manner, soon leading to exhibitions in many concerts both as a soloist and a piano duet with her sister Tiziana.

Roberta participated in various national competitions obtaining coveted awards, including the renowned Competition of Osimo in 1971, which brought her to perform in the town's theater during the final evening of the competition. At the age of eleven she continued her piano studies at the Conservatory G. Tartini of Trieste with the famous teacher, for his musical and human qualities, and brilliant conertist Mº Roberto Repini. During this period of her education she receives major music lessons, highlighting the countless' timbre of the instrument. In addition to further enrichment of her culture of music she began studying the oboe, with the Venetian Professor Alessandro Bonelli, of Score Reading, Ensemble, Harmony and Music History, not to mention her performances in the city as a soloist and in chamber ensembles.  At the same time she plays for choir, alto voice, with touring in Italy and in Europe under the direction of the famous composer from Trieste M. Giampaolo Coral, thus increasing her musical training with the study of a wide repertoire of sacred and profane.

In 1984 she graduates brilliantly, highlighting and presenting all her natural musicality.  Then, for a few years, she follows courses in Musical Interpretation held by Mº W. Riekert of Stuttgart in Venice, successfully improving her style and musical expression in the authors of the classical and romantic period obtaining performances in the town of Venice.  In 1986 she won two State Competitions for teaching music in middle and high schools, receiving her license to teach and obtaining the chair of music in Roncade (Treviso) Middle School.   At the same time, she was president of the Artistic-Musical School "Amadeus" in Monastier, Treviso, of which she was the school founder, piano professor, and director, organizing concerts and exhibitions with various charity associations.

In addition to the continuous teaching, she performs in concerts both in Italy and abroad as a soloist and duo with her sister (pianist) and with her son Tiziano, a violinist.  Due to her cultural and musical elevation, she was invited to play in Harare, Zimbabwe, for the "Fulvia Bertelli" Foundation, getting a resounding success for her sensibility and interpretation during her performances.   She has been a piano professor and head of extracurricular musical activities at the International School of Trieste for 16 years (until 2014), organizing concerts for her students, receiving various recognitions from the community.  Her many years of experience with children brought her to become an expert in teaching with very young students, starting at the age of three.  In recent years, in addition to the the various concerts she performs in, Roberta is deepening her research in the matching of music with other arts such as painting, poetry, and in particular with the essential oils, studying and discovering the bond that develops between them: the harmony of music and the human psyche.

She has performed a concert in Melbourne, Florida in 2013 in duo with her sister. In December 2013 and October 2015 she played, with her sister, a concert (one piano with four hands) including a piece of Franco Margola: “Presso le Rovine di un Piccolo Tempio Greco” for the first time in Trieste and for the first time ever in the United States. In 2015, for the “Concerti della Cometa”, she played for the first time in Trieste “Gli Amori di Colombina” by Giulia Ricordi, a musical piece accompanied by live acting.