Fabio Di Casola, Clarinet
Fabio Di Càsola, only 23 years old, wins first prize at the CIEM (Concours international d'exécution musicale), the extremely prestigious music competition in Geneva in 1990 - 18 years have passed since the last time a clarinettist received this award. This was followed by invitations to important international festivals, such as the Berlin Festival conducted by Claudio Abbado, the Evian Festival conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich and to Lockenhaus to meet Gidon Kremer.
He wins other prizes such as the "Grand Prix Patek Philippe", the "Prix Suisse" for contemporary music and the International Competition for Contemporary Music in Stresa. In 1998 he is elected "Swiss Musician of the Year" by the jury and the audience in Geneva.
After a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto at the Tonhalle Zurich, SONY decides to release his recordings. Two chamber music CDs are followed in 2009 by an orchestral CD with the clarinet concertos of C.M. v. Weber, which is immediately awarded the 'Editor's Choice' of the renowned Gramophone magazine.
The following CD with the Mozart Clarinet Concerto also received many good reviews in the press. Fabio Di Càsola performs as a soloist with orchestras such as Musikkollegium Winterthur, Russian National Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra delle Svizzera Italiana, Lucerne Festival Strings, Camerata Zürich and many others.
Fabio Di Càsola is a member and co-founder of the "Ensemble Kandinsky" with Andreas Janke, Thomas Grossenbacher and Benjamin Engeli.
He is professor for clarinet and chamber music at the Zurich University of the Arts and artistic director of the chamber music festival "Klang-Musiktage auf Schloss Meggenhorn", founded in 2006.