Boardman native to join others in benefit concert
Goodwill has become a family thing for the Scacchettis.
LIBERTY -- The fingers of the young virtuoso's left hand glided up and down the neck of the viola, controlling the pitch of the notes drawn from the instrument as he expertly directed the bow across the strings.
The hallway was unexpectedly filled with the rich sounds of a concerto by Bach, delighting not only those seated there but the several onlookers the sound drew to the corridor.
When the young man finished, they burst into applause.
Friday morning's impromptu performance at Goodwill Industries on Belmont Avenue was a brief taste of the performance the musician, Vince Scacchetti, and several friends expect to give at 7 p.m. May 5 in the Boardman Center for the Performing Arts.
Scacchetti, 25, son of Jim and Jeanne Scacchetti of Boardman, is a first-year graduate student in viola performance at the University of Miami at Oxford.
On the program: The evening will feature the Oxford String Quartet, consisting of professors of strings at the university. They will perform pieces specially written for strings by Haydn and Shostakovich. After intermission, Scacchetti's own group, the Saros Quartet, will join them to perform a work by Mendelssohn.
It's a type of performance that isn't often found locally.
"I think it'll be a nice treat for classical music enthusiasts," he said, and one he believes will be inspiring to young musicians.
Although he said he's played at a few small events, this event will be the first time Scacchetti has performed a major concert at home.
But the reasons for the performance go well beyond a desire to showcase some outstanding talent for the Youngstown-area audience.
He also wanted to be able to do something for a charity, and Goodwill was a natural to him.
Admires its work: To Scacchetti, it's not because his mother is director of administrative services there. "It's so intriguing how they provide work opportunities for people who otherwise wouldn't have any," he said.
"It's easy to get bored or lost when you don't have anything to do. It's an opportunity for people to get up and live more creative, productive lives."
Scacchetti's plan is a point of pride with his mother.
She and the family have watched his musical talent grow from its beginnings in the fifth-grade strings program in Boardman through a degree in viola performance at Ohio State University to further study at Miami.
She's also thrilled by his attachment to Goodwill.
Close to home: Her own mother, Angeline Jest, was hearing-impaired and unable to find work back in the 1960s. Goodwill -- then the Christ Mission -- taught her skills, then hired her.
Mrs. Scacchetti is continuing the tradition and is glad to see it pass to the next generation.
"You want to instill that in your children," she said, "a sense of community, to reach out and do something. I'm very, very proud."
Goodwill officials hope the event will be a rousing success that will enable them to obtain much-needed funds to continue with their mission of job training and employment services for disabled individuals or those on public assistance.
"We really have a great deal of admiration for someone ... who's willing to give back at such a young age," marketing director Melissa Pearce said.
Tickets: Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults and $10 for students and are available at Goodwill stores, the main office and at Alltel Communications on Market Street in Youngstown.
Call (330)759-7921 for more information.
Scacchetti plans to finish his graduate degree and become a member of an orchestra, then eventually one day, to teach.
If the audience response Friday is any indication, he's well on his way.