Bio
About Isaac Casal
Known for his joy and positivity, Panamanian cellist Isaac Casal has brought international recognition to his country through his artistry. Isaac has appeared in numerous solo recitals, chamber music concerts, and as soloist throughout Europe and the Americas. He was a finalist in the 2004 Florida International University Soloist Competition, the 2005 Baylor University Concerto Competition, and the Tuesday Musical Club, Inc. 2007 Young Artist Competition of San Antonio, Texas.
Isaac’s first performance in the United States took place in the summer of 1998 when he was invited to play with his brother, violinist Luis Casal, at the Embassy of Panama in Washington, D.C. Since then he has kept an active agenda performing recitals with his brother Luis, , the Latinum Duet (an ensemble that he co-founded with Panamanian pianist Victor Soto), acclaimed pianist Liudmila Georgievskaya, and the Camerata Alfredo De Saint Malo.
An experienced orchestra player, Isaac served as principal cellist of the Youth Symphony of Panama and was one of the youngest cellists to join the cello section of the National Symphony of Panama. As a member of this orchestra he traveled to Havana, Cuba, to participate in theFestival Mundial de la Juventud (Youth World Festival) in 1997. In 2003 he became the first Panamanian to join the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (YOA) international tours performing alongside renowned conductors such as Carlos Miguel Prieto, Isaac Karabtchvsky, Valery Gergiev, Benjamin Zander, Gustavo Dudamel, and Plácido Domingo. He was a member of the YOA from 2003 to 2008, and the highlight of his relationship with this organization included touring with Paquito D’Rivera as a member of the YOA Camerata.
His performances have lent strong support to organizations specializing in the welfare of children and the encouragement of brotherhood through music. Two such performances included a collaboration in April of 2006 with the celebrated pianist Juan Martin Etcheverry at the Hammarskjöld Auditorium of the United Nations and at the Argentine Consulate as ambassadors of “Artists for a United World” (an organization that promotes universal brotherhood through art), and his performance in 2010 in Houston, Texas, at The Haus Musik Society in collaboration with prestigious clarinetist Michael Webster, pianist Robert Moeling, and flutist Patrice Moeling. The Haus Musik Society is an organization that creates scholarships for young outstanding musicians.
A visionary of his generation, at the age of 25 Isaac founded Fundación Sinfonía Concertante de Panamá (Sinfonía Concertante Foundation of Panama) FUNSINCOPA. The foundation’s mission has been to create educational music programs for low income children and youth including an orchestra system for high-risk children similar to the El Sistema orchestral program of Venezuela. Presently, the programs of FUNSINCOPA have expanded to three different high-risk neighborhoods in Panama City: El Chorrillo, Curundú and Tocumen. He is also the Artistic Director, creator, and founder of the Alfredo Saint-Malo Music Festival of Panama (an annual one week festival that saw its inception on May 25, 2007 and has become one of the most important music festivals of the Central American region).
Highly praised by the national press, the Alfredo Saint-Malo Music Festival promotes music education, music appreciation, and classical music performances throughout the city of Panama and its vicinities. It also offers educational outreach programs to private and public schools, universities, and conservatories, engaging children to perform and listen to live chamber music, interacting with the festival’s faculty of national and international artists.
In June of 2009, Isaac was given recognition by the Instituto Nacional de Cultura de Panamá (National Institute of Culture of Panama) for his valuable work towards the development of music culture in his native country, and on April 2011, Isaac was invited to a Panel Discussion, Case Study on Social Entrepreneurship, hosted by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University.
Eager to share his knowledge and experiences with his fellow musicians from Panama, Isaac travels to his hometown frequently to give masterclasses and lessons. In January 2008 and 2009, he led a music seminar for the National Institute of Culture of Panama and the Danilo Perez Foundation and additionally was clinician for the 2009 and 2010 Panama Jazz Festival. Internationally he has been the guest cello instructor for the YOUR Orchestra Project of Chicago (2009) and the Sembrando Talentos program of Uruguay in Punta Del Este and Montevideo (2008 and 2010), presenting master lasses, cello workshops and collaborating with prestigious musicians from the Teatro Colon Orchestra, The Sodre Orquesta de Camara, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Uruguay. In 2011 he was a guest artist at the first Cello Festival of Uruguay at the School of Music of the University of Uruguay.
Isaac began his cello studies with Juan Carlos Rodó at the age of 7 and later with Jaime Ledezma, principal cellist of the National Symphony of Panama. From the age of nine, he participated in music camps organized by the Concert Association of Panama, and in 1998 was granted a scholarship to attend the Daniel Heifetz International Institute in Annapolis, Maryland. In 2000 he moved to the United States after being awarded a scholarship to study at the Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN. Since then his major teachers have included Karen Melik-Stefanov, Keith Robinson from the Miami String Quartet, Javier Arias from the Amernet String Quartet, Gary Hardy, and Andres Diaz. He has degrees from Florida International University, Baylor University, and Southern Methodist University, where he earned the prestigious Artist Certificate as a student of Andres Diaz in May 2010.
Additional studies include instruction by Gustav Riviniusin at the Cello International Summer Academy of Bad Leonfelden, Austria (Internationale Sommerkademie Bad Leonfelden) (2009) and by Jesús Castro Balbi at the Texas Christian Univerversity CELLOFEST. Isaac has also performed in master and chamber music classes for internationally known musicians such as Christopher Adkins, Harvey Shapiro, Paul Katz, and Antonio Meneses.
Isaac served as cello instructor for the Mountain View Community College from 2007 to 2011. He currently resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he has a private studio, is member of Louisiana Sinfonietta and is cello instructor for the organization Kids Orchestra. Isaac is a Doctoral student of Musical Arts at Louisiana State University, under the tutelage of Dennis Parker.
Acerca de Isaac Casal (español)