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Hamilton Tescarollo, piano
Since his debut with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), pianist Hamilton Tescarollo has performed as both soloist and collaborative artist throughout North and South America as well as Europe. He has appeared in international music festivals such as Orford (Canada), Eleazar de Carvalho (Fortaleza, Brazil), Cascais (Portugal), Saarburg (Germany), Bratislava (Slovakia), and Ljubljana Old Town (Slovenia). Recent performances took him to venues such as Salle Gaveau in Paris, Steinway Hall in New York, and Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium. A versatile musician who performs both the mainstream and the avant-garde repertory, he frequently includes the music of Brazil and other Latin-American countries in his programs.
Also an active recording artist, he is featured in three published CDs. With clarinetist Jorge Montilla (Professor of Clarinet at The University of Iowa and former Principal Clarinet of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela), he recorded the CD “La Revoltosa,” featuring contemporary works by composers of both North and South America for clarinet and piano (Clarinet Classics). He also appears in two CDs with saxophonist Farrell Vernon, containing works for sopranino saxophone and piano as well as larger ensembles involving these two instruments (Centaur Records).
Tescarollo was awarded the top prizes at the OSESP Young Soloists’ National Competition and the Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo’s piano competition and was one of three finalists at the 1991 National Mozart Competition in Brazil. Other distinctions include sponsorships by the Secretary of Culture of the State of São Paulo, the Vitae Foundation, the Arizona Community Foundation, and Arizona State University. A dedicated teacher, he received “Teacher of the Year” awards from the Indiana Music Teachers Association (2015) and the Schimmel-AZ Piano Young Artist Piano Competition (2001), as well as the “Top Music Teacher” award from Steinway & Sons (2016 and 2017). His students have been prizewinners of many piano contests, including the Phoenix Symphony Guild Concerto Competition, Indianapolis Symphony Young Musicians Competition, Sewannee Summer Music Center Concerto Competition, Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition, and MTNA Competitions, among others. They also have been awarded numerous scholarships and grants to attend summer programs, such as Adamant, Brevard, Idylwild, Interlochen, Saarburg (Germany), and Sewannee, and have been accepted for graduate study at institutions such as the Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Institute, and the University of Michigan.
Tescarollo serves as Professor of Music and Director of Keyboard Studies at Purdue University Fort Wayne. In this capacity, he teaches applied piano and piano-related courses and coordinates the keyboard area. He also teaches both young and professional pianists through the PFW Community Arts Academy and serves as piano faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp in the summer. He has previously held teaching positions at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, The Municipal School of Music of São Paulo, and Arizona State University, and has also taught at the Saarburg Serenaden International Music Festival (Germany). In addition, Tescarollo is founder and director of the Gene Marcus Piano Competition and the Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival and is a frequent master class presenter and competition adjudicator.
Dr. Tescarollo holds Piano Performance degrees from Arizona State University (D.M.A. and M.M.), Faculdade Santa Marcelina (B.M.), and Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo (Diploma). His main teachers were Gilberto Tinetti (a pupil of Tagliaferro, Cortot, and Wuehrer) and Caio Pagano (also a pupil of Tagliaferro, as well as of Conrad Hansen, and Carl Engel). He also has studied with Robert Hamilton, Sandra Abrão and Paulo Bergamo, and has coached with Menahem Pressler, Paul Badura-Skoda, Lazar Berman, Barbara Hesse-Bukowska, and Maria João Pires, among others.