Roberto Cani

Italian violinist Roberto Salvatore Cani was born in Milan to parents of Sicilian descent on 17 October 1967. His violin studies began at the age of seven, and he studied at the Milan Conservatory, at the Gnessin Institute in Moscow and at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles. His teachers included Zinaida Gilels, Miroslav Roussine, Alice Schoenfeld, Abraham Stern, Viktor Tretiakov and Pavel Vernikov.

He played a 1735 Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù violin loaned from the ProCanale Foundation, won several competitions, worked as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster, and recorded for the Agora and Arkadia labels.

Playing in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, UK and the USA, his career included performances with the American Youth Symphony, the Belgrade Philharmonic, Central Symphony Orchestra of Oregon, the Italian Consort, La Scala Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Missouri Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Cantelli, Orchestra Haydn of Bolzano, the RAI Symphony Orchestra, Symphony of the Americas, the Volgograd Symphony Orchestra and the Zagreb Soloists.

He collaborated with many musicians including Enrico Dindo, Justus Frantz, Daniele Gatti, Lynn Harrell, Vladimir Jurowski, Riccardo Muti, Massimo Quarta, Andrew Shulman and Jeffrey Swann.

He was concertmaster of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and taught on the faculty of California State University, Northridge.

Roberto Cani died from cancer at his home in Los Angeles on 9 April 2025, aged fifty-seven.

 

A selection of articles about Roberto Cani

Classical music news - April 2025 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month

Ensemble. Blaringly Unusual - Maria Nockin listens to Pittance Chamber Music's opening concert

Ensemble. Vibrant Performance - Two concerts by the Symphony of the Americas, reviewed by Lawrence Budmen