Biography

Soloist, collaborator, teacher—cellist Samuel DeCaprio is an active performer and freelancer based in New York City. He was recently awarded the Doctor of Musical arts degree from The Juilliard School together with a Norman Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant. Among his numerous honors he won the Aldo Parisot Prize at the Yale School of Music and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, along with top prizes from the Arlington, Eastern Connecticut Symphony, National Federation of Music Clubs, and William C. Byrd competitions.

DeCaprio’s New York debut featured the North American premiere of Grażyna Bacewicz’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the Juilliard Orchestra and conductor David Robertson in Alice Tully Hall. Appearing across the globe as a soloist and chamber musician, he has been featured on prominent radio programs including WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, NPR, and WCNI, and has recorded for ECM Records, MSR Classics, and Nonesuch Records. He has played as a substitute with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, and Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and appears regularly with the Metropolis Ensemble and New York Classical Players. He currently holds a first cello chair in Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular Orchestra.

A passionate chamber musician, DeCaprio’s festival appearances include Ravinia Steans Music Institute, IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Les Rencontres Musicales de Noyers-sur-Serein, Domaine Forget, Kneisel Hall, Lake George, Meadowmount, and Orford Musique, among others. His enthusiasm for collaboration has led to the opportunity to perform with many distinguished chamber musicians, including Atar Arad, Paul Biss, Natasha Brofsky, Steven Doane, Vladimir Feltsman, Joseph Lin, Daniel Phillips, David Shifrin, Barry Snyder, and Irma Vallecillo. In 2022, DeCaprio founded the Arazzo Music Festival—an annual chamber music festival focused on bringing free high-caliber concerts and educational events to his home state of Connecticut.

A strong advocate for contemporary music, DeCaprio has sought to collaborate with living composers on their own music, working with notable composers such as Tyondai Braxton, Yu-Hui Chang, Chaya Czernowin, Tina Davidson, Brett Dean, and David Virelles. He is also the founder and creator of Project Mx2, a multifaceted project to commission and perform new works for the cello. DeCaprio’s forthcoming solo album, Project Mx2: Stories—four commissions for solo cello by Matīss Čudars, Soomin Kim, Udi Perlman, and Evdoxia Ragkou—is presented with generous support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts Artists Respond grant program.

DeCaprio holds degrees from the University of Connecticut (Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude), Eastman School of Music (Master of Music), Mannes School of Music (Professional Studies Diploma), Yale School of Music (Master of Musical Arts), and The Juilliard School (Doctor of Musical Arts). His principal teachers include Joel Krosnick, Aldo Parisot, Marcy Rosen, and Steven Doane. At Juilliard, DeCaprio is Teaching Assistant to Joel Krosnick, Chair of the Cello Department.