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João Paulo Casarotti
DMA (NCTM)
Dr. João Paulo Casarotti is a Brazilian pianist, educator, and researcher, currently serving as Residential Piano Faculty (OYO) at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona. He is also the Group Piano Instructor for the Piano Fundamentals classes at Arizona Musicfest in Scottsdale, AZ. In addition to his academic positions, he is the founder and artistic director of the Piracicaba International Piano Festival, the Encontro Internacional de Pianistas do Vale do Aço, and the Piracicaba International Piano Concerto Competition in Brazil. Dr. Casarotti previously held teaching positions at St. Norbert College, Southern University, Temple University, Temple Preparatory School, Darlington Arts Center, the University of North Dakota, and the Escola de Música de Piracicaba “Maestro Ernst Mahle” (Brazil).
Dr. Casarotti earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from Louisiana State University, a Masters of Music in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from Temple University, a Masters of Music in Piano Pedagogy from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelors of Music in Music Performance from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, a Performance Diploma from the “Maestro Ernst Mahle” Music School of Piracicaba-Brazil, and a Performance Certificate from the National Academy of Music in Sofia–Bulgaria. He studied with Michael Gurt, Dorothy Taubman, Sheila Paige, Carl Cranmer, Maria Del Pico Taylor, Mauricy Martin, Sergio Gallo, Gilberto Tinetti, Victor Tchouchkov, Marisa Lacorte and Cecilia Bellato.
Performance Highlights
Dr. Casarotti maintains an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and clinician, having performed across Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Panama, and Paraguay. Some of his solo piano performances were played at the Kimmel Center – Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Steinway Hall in New York, Steinert Hall in Boston, Woxman Hall at the University of Iowa, Indiana University, and Juilliard. He performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Kiev Fantastique Orchestra at the Kiev National Radio and the Lugansk Philharmonic Orchestra at the Sergei Prokofiev Conservatory in Severodonetsk, Ukraine during the summer of 2019. He performed Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto with the Ribeirão Preto Symphony Orchestra in Brazil.
His chamber music collaborations include performing as a member of the trio: Redwine-Barrera-Casarotti. This trio toured Brazil in 2018 and Europe in 2019, presenting concerts at prestigious venues such as the Museu Nacional de Música in Lisbon, Portugal, and the 1901 Arts Club in London, England. In Brazil, the trio performed at leading institutions, including Sala Leopoldo Miguez in Rio de Janeiro, Museu de Arte Sacra de Salvador, Festival de Música de Campina Grande, Escola de Música de Piracicaba "Maestro Ernst Mahle," Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), and Universidade de São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto.
Other significant collaborations include recitals with Metropolitan Opera baritone Richard Hobson in Brazil, Philadelphia, Wisconsin, and Louisiana, as well as performances with Berlin Philharmonic violist Renato Bandel, featuring works by Astor Piazzolla, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Ernst Mahle.
Research, Publications & Specialization
Dr. Casarotti is a leading researcher of the piano works of Brazilian composer Ernst Mahle (1929-) and has been actively involved in projects to make Mahle’s music more accessible. He wrote his master’s and doctoral dissertations on Mahle’s compositions, published his solo and concertino works for piano, and has presented lectures and lecture recitals on Mahle’s music. His research and expertise in piano pedagogy and performance practice have led to presentations at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, the MTNA National Conference, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP), and multiple state music teacher associations across the United States.
With over twenty years of experience in the Taubman Approach, Dr. Casarotti has presented lectures, taught pedagogy courses, and given masterclasses worldwide. He studied the Taubman Technique under Maria Del Pico Taylor, Dorothy Taubman, and Sheila Paige. He also attended the Golandsky Institute, the Keyboard Wellness Seminar, and the Taubman Seminar. Dr. Casarotti served as a seminar assistant and faculty member for both the Taubman Seminar and the Keyboard Wellness Seminar. He was the editor for the Booklet of Musical Examples of the Taubman Seminar at Temple University. Recently, he was featured at McGill University in Canada for a research residency on "Movement Synchronization in Repetition Tasks in Piano Instrumental Practice using the Taubman Approach," in collaboration with Paloma Felicio Monteiro at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT) and the Input Devices and Music Interaction Laboratory at McGill University, in Montreal.
Another significant area of Dr. Casarotti’s research is the use of technology in private and group piano instruction. He is considered a pioneer in online piano education. He developed one of the first distance-learning piano studios with multiple-camera setups in 2009. In 2012, he began presenting about online piano instruction. In 2013, he created the Southern University Online Piano Studio, which became a major asset to the institution’s music program. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Casarotti served as a consultant for MTNA and the Frances Clark Center, providing a series of free webinars that helped thousands of piano and music teachers transition from in-person to online instruction. His leadership in this area established him as a highly influential figure in piano education, and he was featured in the dissertation, Teaching Music in the Age of Zoom: How to Run a Multimedia Piano Studio by Ana Grace Leicht from Ouachita Baptist University.
In 2022, Dr. Casarotti revitalized the piano program at St. Norbert College by introducing the first hybrid piano studio, which was featured on NBC News. The piano lab he assembled enhances visual communication in group instruction by offering multiple camera angles and display capabilities for both teachers and students. This approach was aimed at enriching the learning environment by boosting student engagement, increasing content retention, and facilitating an advantageous group piano setting for both the teacher and students.
Dr. Casarotti’s recent research focuses on visual communication in both private and group instruction. His articles have been featured in the American Music Teacher Magazine and MTNA Business Digest. He frequently offers presentations at the MTNA National Conference and the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. He continues to serve as a consultant for universities, private studios, and music schools in both Brazil and the United States, expanding access to high-quality piano instruction through online education and innovative teaching technologies.
Representation, Advocacy & Fundraising Initiatives
Dr. Casarotti is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts. He has spearheaded multiple initiatives to support underrepresented musicians and provide accessible music education regardless of economic obstacles. In 2011, he organized and performed in Casarotti & Amigos, a benefit concert featuring musicians from Brazil and the United States. The event successfully raised $7,000 for Passo a Passo School, a Brazilian institution supporting children with disabilities. In 2014, while serving as an adjudicator for the International Piano Performance Examination Committee in Taiwan, he evaluated 1,700 piano students and performed a recital organized by the YMCA Tainan. The recital raised enough money to provide food for fifty impoverished elderly individuals for the entire year.
As the founder and director of two major international piano festivals in Brazil—the Piracicaba International Piano Festival and the Encontro Internacional de Pianistas do Vale do Aço—Dr. Casarotti has worked extensively to eliminate financial barriers for students and teachers. These non-profit festivals are run in collaboration with faculty from universities in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and the U.K. To ensure accessibility, full scholarships are offered to students and teachers unable to afford registration fees. A community partnership provides free housing for participants. The festivals have hosted students from Brazil, the U.S., China, Korea, England, Ecuador, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, and Portugal. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the festivals transitioned online and were able to reach 67,000 participants worldwide across Facebook, YouTube, and Zoom. These initiatives expanded global access to high-level music education and have helped numerous South American students secure opportunities to study abroad in the U.S.
Recent Engagements
During the 2023-2024 academic year, Dr. Casarotti performed in solo and chamber recitals at The Kimmel Center-Academy of Music (Philadelphia), Woxman Hall (University of Iowa), First United Methodist Church (Miami), Teatro do Engenho Erotides de Campos (Piracicaba, Brazil), Teatro Anita Villalaz (Panama), Westin-Lombard (National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy), and the Music Teachers National Conference (Atlanta). He also presented lecture recitals on the solo piano works of Ernesto Nazareth and delivered lectures on the Taubman Approach during a week-long residency at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN (April 2024).
In the Fall of 2024, Dr. Casarotti was a guest clinician at the Bowdoin College Klavierfest: The Sound of Innovation, in Brunswick, Maine, and presented a session titled "The Use of Technology and AI Applications on Piano Instruction." Dr. Casarotti was also featured as a clinician and master teacher for the First Encontro Internacional da Associação Brasileira de Piano Collaborativo at the Universidade de Brasilia, Brazil.
Dr. Casarotti published articles on Piano Pedagogy, Technology, and Diversity and Inclusion for the American Music Teacher Magazine and the MTNA Business Digest. Recent publications include:
In addition to his articles, Dr. Casarotti released a recording of “Deux Melodies de Debussy: Romance & La Fille Aux Cheveux de Lin” (March 2023), with cellist Christine Mello, available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
Dr. Casarotti published several works through the SuperScore App in the Apple Store, including:
“Ernst Mahle’s Músicas da Cecília” for Piano (February 2023)
“Ernst Mahle’s Concertino 1974” for Piano (March 2023)
Future Engagements
Dr. Casarotti was recently contracted to write a chapter about Piano Pedagogy in South America for the Cambridge Companion to Piano Pedagogy through Cambridge University Press. He will be presenting two sessions at the 2025 Music Teachers National Association National Conference in Minneapolis. The first is a lecture recital entitled, "Rhythms of Brazil: Mastering the Art of the Waltz Across Eras," featuring works by Camargo Guarnieri, Francisco Mignone, Ernesto Nazareth, Villa Lobos, Ernst Mahle, Ronaldo Miranda, Daniel Seixas, Chiquinha Gonzaga, and more. The second is a lecture called, "Artificial Intelligence in Real Music Learning Situations: Exploring AI's Impact on Piano Pedagogy and Music Education" presented alongside Dr. Mario Ajero.
In the summer of 2025, Dr. Casarotti will be featured in two sessions at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP) in Lombard, IL: “Visual Communication in Group Piano Instruction,” and “Piano Tech Expo” with members of the NCKP Technology Committee.
His work continues to shape the next generation of musicians through teaching, research, and leadership in piano pedagogy and performance.