On Monday, a guest pianist by the name of João Paulo Casarotti visited Tarleton to put on a piano recital for the music students, courtesy of the ULTRA Club.

Casarotti is a Brazilian pianist and a teacher with degrees in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from the University of North Dakota, and a Bachelors of Music in Music Performance from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Casarotti has a career as a teacher in both Brazil and the USA.

Casarotti performed three solo pieces, and one duet piece with Dr. Leslie Spotz. His first piece had three different movements. In his first piece, Sonata in F Major, started off with a very bouncy feeling. Then he transitioned to a slower, more subtle work. Finally, he finished with more of an upbeat ending to his first piece.

For his second piece, Casarotti chose Three Petrarch Sonnets that also had three parts to it. All three parts of the piece were very slow ballads. These three Sonnets had a very sleepy feeling. They were very nice, pretty pieces that sounded like they could have been a score for a love scene in a movie.

His last solo was entitled Waltz of Sorrow. Both parts were Brazilian pieces from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4. These were very traditional Brazilian pieces that most people in the Sao Paolo area are very familiar with. The piece was a very beautiful interpretation of what sounds could be used to visualize the rainforest.

After a brief intermission, Casarotti performed a duet with Dr. Leslie Spotz, the head piano professor of the music department. They both performed Rhapsody in Blue, which is classical jazz music. Each brought an eloquence of musicality, and gave life to the music. Spotz and Casarotti demonstrated two different styles of playing, and how they can both be used to perform an outstanding work of music.

Casarotti also came back on Tuesday to work with a number of music students. He showed them different techniques in their own music, and he critiqued their interpretations of the music played.