Let’s meet a new member of the orchestra: Samuel Casale from Italy.
Where are you from and where are you studying/working right now?
I am from Italy and I live in Paris since September 2016. I obtained my master’s in modern flute in Paris Superior Conservatory in 2018 and now I am working around Europe.
How did you get to know about Theresia?
It was in Strasbourg in 2014 from my traverso professor Patrick Blanc.
How was the experience so far?
Just amazing. Theresia was and always is like a family, a big one. The human experience that I could share during our residencies with people all over the world has been very intense.
What do you like about Theresia?
The freedom. Theresia is for me the space where I can express my opinions and where my vision is a contribution for the health of the project. More than that it is an environment that you can enjoy in many ways. That is for me the biggest richness of Theresia: this meeting point where very different people are and play, an explosive mix!
How did your passion for period instruments begin? Do you also play modern flute?
It started in Strasburg after my first year of bachelor’s in modern flute. I started playing traverso and 3 months later the Theresia audition appeared. I liked this selection system of audition a lot and I’d never gone to Venice, so I started practicing 8keyed flute, too.
My principal activity is on modern flute and piccolo. At the beginning, studying period instruments was like a hobby. I think that Theresia encouraged me a lot to continue and to start a career in early music too.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
No idea. I think in France because I feel particularly good there, and I have lots of projects.
Would you rather be a soloist, an orchestra member or have your own ensemble?
The three at same time.
I feel good as a soloist, I like to bring other musicians with me. It is like to be a conductor. Playing a concerto by heart with orchestra is like being the bridge between the orchestra and the public. It is a special feeling!
I love to play in orchestra, as well. It is completely different from a soloist life, especially in the relationship with other musicians, is more like a family, you feel energy around you. What I love in the orchestra life is the humility: to play my part in the best way I can, giving space to others and getting inspired by them.
Chamber music is my life. I already have an ensemble called Le Bateau Ivre. It is an instrumental quintet with flute, harp and string trio. I like to have an ensemble like that because you are a soloist but at the same time you must give space to the others and getting inspired by them because they are soloists too.
More than that, Le Bateau Ivre is where I can express myself not only as a musician but also as a man. I can create new experiences for the public, meet incredible people during our tours and feel the freedom to create everything I can imagine. After that, to play what we created in concert halls, hotels, forests, prisons, hospitals, market and so on, to directly feel the contact with very different publics.
Theresia for me is a mix of these three works, and for that I am very delighted to be a part of it ( or of her 🙂 ) and to give my energy for developing it. Seeing is believing!
