Vincenzo Keawe Calcagno is currently pursuing a master’s degree with Ettore Causa at the Yale School of Music, where he was a finalist in this year’s concerto competition. He received his bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory.
An expressive and versatile musician, Vincenzo has performed in numerous recitals and concerts as a soloist. Recently, he has featured works by new composers and played recitals collaborating with clarinet and guitar. He has served as principal violist with the Yale Philharmonia, Juilliard Orchestra, and the Music Academy of the West Chamber Orchestra. With his string quartet, he performed in the Master Class Series at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with the Calidore Quartet and at Carnegie Hall in A Celebration of Meredith Monk.
Last year, Vincenzo studied at the Verbier Festival Academy, where he participated in masterclasses with Antoine Tamestit, Lawrence Power, Máté Szücs, Isabel Charisius, Ilya Gringolts, and Gábor Takács-Nagy. Earlier the same summer, he attended the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, where he had the great privilege of performing with legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman. In previous summers, Vincenzo has studied at the Taos School of Music, the Perlman Music Program (the “Littles Program”), and the Music Academy of the West, where he was invited to work intensively with the Takács Quartet. Vincenzo is also honored to have been invited to the Yellow Barn Young Artists Program and the Ravinia Steans Institute.
He is tremendously grateful to have also had the opportunity to study with luminaries such as Cynthia Phelps and Richard O’Neill, received chamber music coaching from Nina Lee, Merry Peckham, Darrett Adkins, Molly Carr, Joseph Lin, Robert McDonald, Martin Beaver, and Rainer Honeck, and has played in masterclasses for Hartmut Rohde, Richard O’Neill, Kim Kashkashian, Toby Appel, the Cavani Quartet, the St. Lawrence Quartet, and the Takács Quartet.
Vincenzo comes from a long line of Kanaka (Native Hawaiian) musicians and entertainers and grew up surrounded by his family’s music, along with the diverse sounds of the San Francisco Bay Area. He commenced his classical music training with the San Francisco Boys Chorus, where he had the opportunity to sing in the San Francisco Opera’s production of Mefistofele. Not long after, he began his studies in violin and soon after discovered the compelling and rich sonority of the viola. At 15, Vincenzo was accepted into the studio of Helen Callus, Professor of Viola at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, whose mentorship inspired him to fully dedicate himself to the viola and played a pivotal role in shaping his musical path.
