Students and Their Stories

Cibele Perusso

Pianist • Educator • Arts Administrator

Brazilian pianist Cibele Perusso studied piano with Dr. João Paulo Casarotti at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while completing the university’s English as a Second Language program.

During this period, she pursued intensive piano study with a focus on performance, interpretation, and the Taubman Approach. Following her studies, Cibele received full scholarship and assistantship offers for graduate study from Louisiana State University (Piano Performance), Temple University (Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy), and West Chester University (Piano Performance).

Today, Cibele is Director of ACARTE (Academia de Artes) at UNASP, Hortolândia, where she is also active as a pianist and piano educator. She also serves as Administrative and Production Director of the Encontro Internacional de Pianistas e Professores de Piano de Piracicaba (EIPIANOPIRA), an international piano festival in Brazil.

Cibele’s journey—from intensive piano study in Baton Rouge to graduate-school opportunities and leadership in music education and arts administration in Brazil—reflects the long-term impact of dedicated study, artistic development, and professional preparation.

Leticia Motta Rodrigues

Pianist • Piano Educator • Studio Owner

Brazilian pianist Leticia Motta Rodrigues transferred from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) to Southern University in Baton Rouge, where she studied piano with Dr. João Paulo Casarotti for two years.

During her studies, Leticia distinguished herself in national piano competitions, receiving Third Prize at the DeBose National Piano Competition in 2013 and Third Prize at the Alcorn State University National Piano Competition in 2015.

Following her undergraduate studies, Leticia was accepted with full scholarship and assistantship offers to five graduate programs in the United States:

Louisiana State University — Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy
Temple University — Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy
West Chester University — Master of Music in Piano Performance
University of North Dakota — Master of Music in Piano Performance
Cleveland State University — Master of Music in Piano Performance

Leticia chose Louisiana State University, where she completed her Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy.

Today, Leticia lives in the Houston, Texas area, where she has established Piano Studio – LMR and continues her career as a piano educator. Her journey—from undergraduate transfer student to competition prizewinner, graduate assistant, and independent piano teacher—reflects the combination of performance, pedagogy, and professional preparation that has shaped her career.

Cibele Maia Burke

Pianist • Musicologist • Assistant Professor of Musicology

Brazilian pianist and musicologist Cibele Maia Burke came to Southern University as a transfer student from São Paulo State University (UNESP) and studied piano with Dr. João Paulo Casarotti in 2015.

During this period, Cibele distinguished herself as a performer, winning the Alcorn State University National Piano Competition. She subsequently received a full scholarship to continue her undergraduate studies in the United States, studying piano with Dr. Bernardo Scarambone.

Her interests gradually expanded from piano performance into musicology and interdisciplinary research. Her undergraduate honors thesis, A Comparative Study of Perspectives in Musical Structural Features and Emotional Stimuli, explored relationships between musical structure and emotional expression and culminated in a one-hour piano and organ recital.

Cibele continued her graduate studies in Music History at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and later earned her PhD from Cornell University, where her research focused on Latin American and Latinx music and culture.

Today, Cibele is Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, continuing a career that brings together performance, scholarship, teaching, and the study of Latin American and Latinx musical cultures.

Cibele’s journey—from international transfer student and competition-winning pianist to scholar and university professor—demonstrates how a strong foundation in performance can develop into a distinctive and multifaceted career in music.