From La Paz, Bolivia, Cassapia began his studies of traditional Andean music at the Conservatorio Los Andes [Los Andes Conservatory] under the direction of Maestro Gerardo Yanez Sarmiento and studied the classical oboe at the Conservatorio Plurinacional de Música (COPLUMU)[Plurinational Conservatory of Music] in La Paz. He became an international artist after studying oboe and music composition with notable instructors in Berlin, Ulm, and Freiburg, Germany. Under the tutelage of the internationally recognized contemporary composer Arvo Pärt, Cassapia became distinguished as a composer in the realm of classical music as well as an arranger of traditional, native, and folk music styles. The National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia welcomed Cassapia home from Europe as an oboist and arts activist, receiving the “Medalla al Mérito Cultural” [Honor of Cultural Merit Medal] awarded by the Legislative Assembly of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. As director of the Cultural Center of Los Andes, he imparted ancestral knowledge of communitarian Andean music to underprivileged youth as a form of therapy and cultural and social development. Currently residing in Austin, Texas, Cassapia enjoys being on the vanguard of new musical projects and sharing his knowledge of ethnomusicology. As a soloist in the classical music scene, he took center stage, performing his arrangements and compositions for symphonic orchestra and native instruments with the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and also with his project entitled “Nomads,” winning a grant from the City of Austin. He is a part of the duo NorteSur with harpist Rachel Browne.
